The Army on April 28 awarded Lockheed Martin [LMT] more than $800 million in deals for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and M270 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS) launchers.
The new awards include a $615 million HIMARS production order covering deliveries for the Army and international customers and a $194.1 million contract to recapitalize M270 launchers to the upgraded A2 configuration for the U.S., Italy and the U.K., Lockheed Martin said.
“The increased demand for our precision fires products, like HIMARS and GMLRS, demonstrates the significant impact these game changing capabilities are having for our customers,” Paula Hartley, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control’s vice president of tactical missiles, said in a statement on the HIMARS deal. “We are proud to partner with the Army as they move forward with unprecedented speed and agility to meet the urgent need and deliver these systems.”
Lockheed Martin noted the new HIMARS full-rate production contract follows a $430.9 million deal the Army awarded in December to help replenish stockpiles of the weapon sent to Ukraine (Defense Daily, Dec. 2).
“We are working closely with our customer and suppliers to ramp production capacity and meet the urgent need for this combat-proven launcher,” Jay Price, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control’s vice president of precision fires, said in a statement. “We’ve taken steps to shorten manufacturing lead time and we’re on track to meet increased capacity.”
James Taiclet, Lockheed Martin’s chairman, president and CEO, said last October the company is working toward increasing HIMARS production to 96 units per year (Defense Daily, Oct. 18).
The new award for M270 MLRS recapitalization, includes modernizing launchers up to the A2 configuration with a new 600-horsepower engine, new fire control system and an improved armored cab, according to Lockheed Martin.
HIMARS and M270 MLRS fire GMLRS rockets, the ATACMS missile and the future Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), all built by Lockheed Martin.
The Army awarded Lockheed Martin a nearly $4.8 billion GMLRS production order last week, with work expected to be completed by the end of October 2026 (Defense Daily, April 27)