Pentagon awards Lockheed nearly $1B contract for Saudis

By Servet Gunerigok</p> <p>WASHINGTON (AA) – The Pentagon said Monday it has awarded Lockheed Martin a nearly $1 billion contact for an advanced missile defense system on behalf of Saudi Arabia. </p> <p>The Defense Department said the total estimated value of the contract is $945,900,000. </p> <p>Under the contract, Lockheed will provide Phase I &quot;long lead items&quot; of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system.</p> <p>The contract also includes test equipment, key personnel, line requalification activities, initial training development and early engineering development.</p> <p>In November, President Donald Trump’s administration signed off on a $15 billion deal to sell Saudi Arabia 44 THAAD launchers, missiles and related equipment. </p> <p>Washington and Riyadh entered formal talks for THAAD in December 2016.</p> <p>*Kasim Ileri contributed to this story