Lockheed Martin and Avio Partner on Solid Rocket Motor Production in the US

Lockheed Martin and Italian rocket motor maker Avio have signed a strategic cooperation agreement to produce solid rocket motors (SRMs) in the United States. Announced October 13, the deal is aimed at adding capacity and resilience to the American SRM supply chain.

Initial work under the agreement, following qualification, will focus on motors for the Extended Range GMLRS (ER GMLRS) rocket and the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM). Production will take place at a new Avio USA facility in Hurt, Virginia; Avio USA is headquartered in nearby Arlington, while parent company Avio S.p.A. operates in Italy, France, the United States and French Guiana.

Avio said it has committed more than $500 million to build the new U.S. production capacity. In exchange, Lockheed Martin gains access to a share of Avio’s merchant supply for ER GMLRS and PrSM motors. Neither company disclosed the value of the agreement itself.

Tim Cahill, president of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said a reliable and diversified SRM supply chain is fundamental to the company’s strategy and that the agreement will speed production of essential capabilities. Avio USA CEO James Syring called the deal a major milestone for the Virginia facility and the team being built there, while Avio S.p.A. CEO Giulio Ranzo said the company aims to become a merchant supplier to a range of defense customers.

ER GMLRS and PrSM sit among the two central pillars of the U.S. Army’s long-range fires modernization. The GMLRS family covers precision rockets fired from HIMARS and M270 launchers, and demand for them has risen sharply amid the war in Ukraine. PrSM, also launched from HIMARS, is being developed as a longer-range, higher-lethality successor.

Solid rocket motor production has long been viewed as a chokepoint in the U.S. defense industrial base, concentrated among a small number of suppliers. Northrop Grumman’s traditionally dominant position in the sector has pushed the Pentagon in recent years to actively support alternative producers, and Avio’s entry into the American market is one of the most visible steps in that diversification push.

The agreement is the latest in a string of supply-chain partnerships Lockheed Martin has struck in recent months. The company has also expanded production capacity at its Grand Prairie, Texas facility and partnered with BAE Systems on missile manufacturing. Taken together, the moves are being read as part of a strategy to strengthen U.S. munitions supply security and reduce dependence on any single supplier.

Avio USA said construction continues at the Hurt site and its U.S. workforce is growing, though no firm production start date has been set. Manufacturing is expected to ramp up gradually once qualification is complete. Beyond its defense work, Avio is the prime contractor for the European Space Agency’s Vega rocket family, and its move into the American missile-motor market extends that solid-propulsion expertise from civil space launch into military production — a template Lockheed and other primes are increasingly applying with allied suppliers from Poland to Türkiye as they diversify their own industrial bases.

Sources

• Lockheed Martin, “Lockheed Martin and Avio Announce Strategic Cooperation Agreement for Solid Rocket Motor Production,” October 13, 2026 — used for deal scope, parties, executive quotes and investment figures. (news.lockheedmartin.com)
• Avio S.p.A. corporate statements and CEO Giulio Ranzo’s remarks — used to confirm the $500 million investment at the Hurt, Virginia facility.