"This effort reflects the power of a commercially-inspired partnership between government and industry," Lockheed Martin chairman, president and CEO Jim Taiclet said at a May 2026 groundbreaking in Troy, Alabama.
Lockheed Martin MFC investment: $8–9 billion through 2030
Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control (MFC) division is committing to a major expansion of its munitions footprint. The company plans an $8–9 billion investment through 2030 to expand facilities, tooling, supplier capacity and workforce where it builds interceptors and strike missiles. TWZ reports the company has already invested more than $7 billion since President Donald Trump’s first term to expand capacity for priority systems, including roughly $2 billion dedicated specifically to accelerating munitions production.
Department of War contracting: framework agreements and the $4.7 billion UCA
Lockheed Martin framed its acceleration work around the Department of War’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy, which the company says creates longer-term stability and predictability. Under that approach, Lockheed signed a framework agreement in January 2026 to ramp PAC-3 MSE production and received an undefinitized contract action (UCA) for $4.7 billion in April 2026 to accelerate PAC-3 MSE output. Executives point to multi-year commitments—typically five to seven years—as the procurement change that lets primes and suppliers invest in long-lead items and supplier capacity with confidence.
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Talk to us →Pushed lines: PAC-3 MSE, THAAD, PrSM and follow-on programs
The acceleration covers a set of named weapon lines. Lockheed committed initially to tripling PAC-3 MSE production capacity and then quadrupling THAAD interceptor production; PrSM (Precision Strike Missile) production will also quadruple. PrSM received Milestone C approval in July 2025 and a subsequent $4.94 billion contract award; the source reports PrSM made its operational debut earlier this year in operations against Iran. The company also says it is ramping AGM-158 JASSM and AGM-158C LRASM programs now, and expects AGM-179 JAGM and the Javelin shoulder-launched weapon to follow. Lockheed noted that it has already increased production of Javelin, GMLRS and GMLRS Extended-Range and anticipates further growth in the next few years.
Factory modernization: robotics, additive manufacturing, AI/ML and licensing
To shorten build timelines, Lockheed is changing how it manufactures. Executives described increasing automation and robotics, bringing in additive manufacturing such as 3D printing, expanding factory floor footprints, building additional tooling and test equipment, and hiring more workers both at Lockheed sites and across supplier networks. The company established a Rapid Fielding Center at its Grand Prairie, Texas, facility to apply rapid prototyping and production techniques, and said it is experimenting with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to make production more adaptive and scalable.
Supply-chain tactics include securing long-lead materials, aggregating demand to improve supplier priority, and license production. Lockheed has licensed PAC-3 MSE production to Japan, which operates a final assembly and checkout facility, and the company said it is examining potential co-production in Europe as a way to expand capacity. Executives cited specific supply constraints—naming titanium as an example—and said larger, predictable buying helps reduce cost and prevent bottlenecks.
What this means for the Department of War, suppliers, and allied producers
- Department of War: Longer, predictable contracts and framework agreements are meant to give procurement planners greater visibility and to stimulate rapid capacity expansion by primes and suppliers.
- Suppliers and subcontractors: Five- to seven-year commitments are intended to enable bidders and suppliers to invest in tooling, workforce and raw-material sourcing—reducing span time for components like rocket motors and seekers.
- Allied producers (Japan and potential European partners): Licensed production and co-production are explicit pathways Lockheed is pursuing to expand output beyond U.S. lines, including the existing PAC-3 MSE production license in Japan.
Lockheed executives emphasize two measurable aims: shorten historical timelines and scale output. The company notes that building a PAC-3 MSE has sometimes taken as long as three years from contract signature to delivery, and senior managers said they are focused on reducing that span through contracting changes, supplier aggregation and manufacturing modernization. Tim Cahill, president of MFC, told TWZ he expects eventually to see "all the munitions that we build in some sort of heads of agreement, some sort of a contract to increase the level of production."
The program combines several levers—multi-year contracting, large capital investment, factory automation, supplier prioritization and licensed production—to drive faster deliveries of interceptors and strike munitions. The near-term milestones to watch in the record are continued deliveries under the April 2026 UCA for PAC-3 MSE, the ramped PrSM line following its July 2025 Milestone C, and the company’s deployment of lower-cost options such as the PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector, which Lockheed says will likely be "less than half as expensive" as the current PAC-3 MSE while remaining linked to Patriot fire control and the Integrated Battle Command System.
