Poland considers MEADS anti-missile radar

WASHINGTON -- A missile defense system the United States has no plans to deploy may find new life in Poland, where leaders Tuesday welcomed Vice President Joe Biden amid rising tensions over Russia's takeover of Crimea.

As Biden visited with President Bronislaw Komorowski in Warsaw, other Polish leaders met privately Tuesday with executives from MEADS International, the consortium developing the Medium Extended Air Defense System.

Poland selected MEADS International, and its main U.S. partner -- Lockheed Martin Corp. -- as one of four finalists for a contract worth up to $5 billion to modernize its air and missile defense systems.

If MEADS wins the competition, it would help boost business at Lockheed Martin in Salina, which developed the 360-degree search radar for the anti-missile system.
The other finalists for the Polish contract are a French consortium that includes Thales and MBDA, the Israeli government, and Massachusetts-based Raytheon, developer of the Patriot anti-missile system.

MEADS Dual Intercept Flight Test 02

The Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) intercepted and destroyed two simultaneous targets attacking from opposite directions during a stressing demonstration of its 360-degree air and missile defense (AMD) capabilities at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The flight test achieved all criteria for success. Learn more…

MEADS International, a multinational joint venture headquartered in Orlando, Fla., is the prime contractor for the MEADS system. Major subcontractors and joint venture partners are MBDA in Italy and Germany, and Lockheed Martin in the United States. The MEADS program management agency NAMEADSMA is located in Huntsville, Ala.

Missile defense system fight in Washington puts Lockheed's Syracuse-area jobs in crosshairs

Photo supplied by Lockheed Martin Corp.This is the first publicly released photo of a prototype of the MEADS missile defense system surveillance radar that was designed and developed at the Lockheed plant in Salina, NY, for the U.S. Army. The surveillance radar can search 360-degrees for incoming missiles, planes and drones and be hauled around on the back of a truck.

Washington, D.C. -- Hundreds of Central New York workers building a long-delayed missile defense system could lose their jobs if Congress proceeds with a plan to eliminate the program’s funding.

Lockheed Martin’s plant in Salina has a $625 million share of the multibillion-dollar contract to design and develop the Medium Extended Air Defense System, or MEADS.

About 325 Lockheed engineers and technicians in Salina have been building two radars to spot and track enemy missiles, fighter jets or drones — and target them with interceptor missiles.

The United States, with partners Germany and Italy, already has spent $3.4 billion to develop its replacement of the Army’s aging Patriot missile defenses.