Recently, the US Army has given Lockheed Martin the go-ahead to begin production of the new extended-range variant of its GMLRS rockets, which required a new investment of more than $200 million. This is a modification of the initial contract signed between both parties during 2023, in which the aforementioned force increased the number of rockets requested, not limited to this extended-range version, and the number of launchers to replenish its inventories.
According to the specialized media Defense News, based on statements from a spokesperson for Lockheed Martin itself, the company and the US Army have even already defined the site where the manufacturing of the new extended-range GMLRS will begin to be integrated into the production line. Specifically, it would be at the headquarters of the American company in Camden, state of Arkansas, where other versions of the system are already produced.
Specifically, the service would be acquiring a total of 240 new units of the extended-range version of the GMLRS rocket, which has already passed the corresponding tests prior to entering service. This new type of rocket stands out mainly for its range of up to 150 kilometers, far exceeding the limits of its predecessors, which are situated at a range close to 70 kilometers.
It should be remembered that originally, the US Army had allocated the significant sum of 4.8 billion dollars to increase the production rates and quantities of the GMLRS family, and its HIMARS launch platforms. In concrete terms, this boost would allow Lockheed Martin to practically double its plans to manufacture 6,000 rockets per year to a new number of 14,000 GMRLS produced, achieving this by 2026.
This ambitious plan promoted by the US Army, which has already been approved by the US Congress in budgetary terms, responds to the need to replenish the arsenal of this type of systems, which has been diminished after deliveries of material to the Armed Forces of Ukraine as part of the military assistance they have received since the beginning of the war that Russia began in 2022. Although the quantities of GMLRS rockets delivered since the beginning of the war were not specified, the considerable intended increase in what refers to the aforementioned number of units produced, it denotes that the US has delivered a large number of projectiles to Ukraine to carry out its defense.
*Images used for illustrative purposes
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