Alliant, Lockheed, Northrop to develop missile: WSJ

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Three U.S. defense contractors are expected to announce on Wednesday plans to team up to develop a family of airborne missiles that can attack both ground and airborne targets, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Citing industry officials familiar with the details, the Journal said Alliant Techsystems Inc (ATK.N), Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) and Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) have embarked on a classified program to determine whether the new missiles could replace those currently used.

Currently, jets carry separate models of air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles. Raytheon Co (RTN.N) builds many of the current missiles.

The development program is just getting under way, and in the past similar attempts to build an airborne missile that can hit both air and ground targets have run into technical snafus, the Wall Street Journal said.

It is unusual to have three prominent defense suppliers team up on a project, without one serving as the prime contractor, the Journal said.

The announcement, scheduled for the international air show in Farnborough, England, also uncharacteristically calls attention to a classified program requested by Pentagon brass, before any of the hardware has been built or tested, the Journal said.

(Editing by Gary Hill)