Lockheed Martin Raises GMLRS Rocket Output to 14,000 a Year
Lockheed Martin says it has delivered the 100,000th GMLRS guided rocket and has raised annual production capacity to roughly 14,000 units. The company made the announcement at a ceremony on November 10 at its Camden, Arkansas plant, where much of GMLRS output is concentrated.
GMLRS is a precision-guided artillery rocket fired from the US Army’s M270 multiple launch rocket system and the M142 HIMARS launcher. Demand for the munition has grown among both the US Army and allied forces in recent years.
Gaylia Campbell, vice president and general manager of Tactical Missiles at Lockheed Martin, said the production milestones reflect the company’s effort to meet rising demand while strengthening its supply chain. The 100,000-unit mark was reached ahead of the company’s internal schedule.
Alongside the output increase, Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GDOTS) completed the first test of a new solid rocket motor intended for GMLRS. Motor qualification is targeted for 2027.
The goal of the new motor line is to establish a third US source for this critical component, reducing single-source risk and expanding overall capacity. GDOTS already supplies GMLRS warheads, motor cases and launch pod containers to the program.
Chris Haynes, senior vice president and general manager at GDOTS, said the test was an important step toward expanding the country’s solid rocket motor manufacturing base. The company is one of a small number of US suppliers capable of this kind of propulsion work.
The GMLRS program draws on more than 200 suppliers spread across 35 US states, more than 50 of them small businesses. Over 200 employees at the Camden site work directly on the rocket line.
Lockheed Martin is increasing hiring at Camden by 50 percent to support other munitions programs at the same site, including the PAC-3 MSE interceptor and the PrSM precision strike missile. The move points to a broader push to scale multiple munitions lines simultaneously rather than sequentially.
The capacity increase follows roughly two years of heavy GMLRS use in Ukraine, which has strained Western artillery-munition stockpiles. US and European manufacturers have announced similar capacity expansions for 155mm artillery shells over the same period, reflecting a broader industrial response to sustained high consumption rates.
A growing number of NATO members now operate the M270 or HIMARS platforms. Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Romania have each ordered or received the systems at different points in recent years, making US production throughput directly relevant to how quickly those orders can be filled.
Türkiye does not operate GMLRS or HIMARS, but the strengthening of NATO’s artillery-munitions supply chain is closely watched as an indicator of alliance-wide deterrence capacity. Turkish industry is separately pursuing similar production scale for its own long-range rocket artillery and guided munitions programs.
Lockheed Martin did not disclose the dollar value associated with the capacity increase or name specific allied customers set to benefit from the expanded output.
Sources:
- Infodefensa, “Lockheed Martin raises GMLRS rocket production for M270 and M142 HIMARS launchers to 14,000 units a year,” November 12, 2026, infodefensa.com — used for production figures, ceremony details and official statements.
