The Army on Monday announced it recently awarded $520.8 million in contract options to Lockheed Martin [LMT] for Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS) to help replenish stockpiles of the weapon sent to Ukraine.
“This award enables us to replenish our own inventory while providing critical capabilities for our allies and international partners,” Doug Bush, the Army’s top acquisition official, said in a statement. “We remain committed to getting things on contract as quickly as possible to ensure our stocks are rapidly replenished.”
Photo: Lockheed Martin
Two production orders were awarded on October 21 and November 2 and funded by Congress’ supplemental appropriation for Ukraine support, according to the Army, as the U.S. continues to provide GMLRS rockets for the HIMARS launchers provided to support Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s ongoing invasion.
“These awards demonstrate the significant impact GMLRS are having on the battlefield as a vital combat capability for our international partners,” Bill LaPlante, under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said in a statement. “They are great examples of contracting approaches we are using to more rapidly accelerate award timelines and ultimately deliver capability.”
The Pentagon has recently detailed more than $1 billion in contracts it’s awarded since April to begin replenishing stockpiles of weapons sent to Ukraine, with the department having identified $7 billion in replacement actions (Defense Daily, Sept. 9).
In September, LaPlante reiterated his goal remains to replenish inventories of equipment sent to Ukraine on a ‘one-to-one’ basis, either with current systems or next-generation updates (Defense Daily, Sept. 7).
LaPlante has also previously cited multi-year contracts for critical munitions as an option to ensure supply chain stability in the future as the Pentagon looks to produce those weapons to refill its inventories of what’s been supplied in larger numbers to Ukraine.
Earlier this month, LaPlante said he believes Congress will approve a provision soon allowing the department to award multi-year contracts for munitions procurements (Defense Daily, Nov. 7).
“We’re going to have multi-year authority. I believe in the Congress. They are supportive of this. They’re going to give us multi-year authority and they’re going to give us funding to really put into the industrial base, and I’m talking billions of dollars into the industrial base, and to fund these production lines,” Bill LaPlante, under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said during a discussion at an event hosted by George Mason University and the Defense Acquisition University.