Patriot at Half Price — and a European Rival
Lockheed's PAC-3 ACE cuts unit cost in half. MBDA's Counter Mass Interceptor doubles drone-ceiling range. Both debuted at Farnborough.
By The Defense Desk
Two new low-cost interceptors landed at Farnborough on the same day, signaling that the next era of air defense is less about peak performance and more about affordable volume. Lockheed Martin's PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector (ACE) is priced at half the cost of the existing PAC-3 MSE per unit, targeting cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles. [1]
The company intends to produce ACE's seeker overseas and has sent out a Request for Information to European firms with radio-frequency expertise — naming Saab and Diehl as examples. A first test is expected in early 2028. [1]
On the same exhibition floor, MBDA unveiled the Counter Mass Interceptor — a truck-mounted, 53-kg weapon that is an upgrade to the company's ground-launched, Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM). It targets drones, helicopters, and cruise missiles, and is designed to reach altitudes that traditional counter-UAS systems cannot. "You know, your traditional counter UAS effectors only go up to sort of a two to three [kilometer] ceiling. This will double that," said MBDA UK business development manager for ASRAAM Luke Webster. A live fire test is planned within 18 months. [1]
The appetite for mass-producible defense hardware is reshaping what Western industry considers worth building. Affordability is no longer a compromise — it is the specification.
Cahill framed the strategic logic plainly: "an adversary can throw a lot at you, not just drones but ballistic and cruise missiles in significant quantities and you have to have the numbers." Both programs now face the harder test — finding customers willing to commit before either weapon has fired a single live round. [1]
an adversary can throw a lot at you, not just drones but ballistic and cruise missiles in significant quantities and you have to have the numbersTim Cahill