The reason is the increased demand in Europe due to the aggression of the Russian Federation.
The Lockheed Martin company > plans to increase production of its highly mobile HIMARS artillery missile system—a weapon that is in great demand in Ukraine and throughout Europe. This is written by POLITICO.
Lockheed Martin is already ready to increase the production of HIMARS to 96 installations per year compared to the current level of 60, CEO Jim Tyklet told investors.
In addition, the Taiclet company announced an increase in HIMARS production volumes. Before receiving the order from the Pentagon six months ago, the company had already invested $65 million to shorten the production time of HIMARS.
Lockheed Martin is also considering expanding its facility in Camden, State Arkansas as demand for systems continues to grow.
However, building new industrial capacity is not like flipping a switch: supply chains need time to ramp up to meet new targets, and new workers need to be hired and trained.
In particular, Poland, after learning that the 500 HIMARS it ordered will take years to arrive, decided this week to purchase 300 Chunmoo rocket launchers manufactured by South Korea's Hanwha — the company plans to deliver them next year.
“We decided to divide the HIMARS order into stages. We will have both HIMARS and Chunmoo,” Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said.
Other countries are also betting big on HIMARS. In July, Estonia ordered six systems worth $500 million.
Also read: Forbes: Ukraine Uses Missiles That Make HIMARS Even More Deadly For Russia
The U.S. Army also prefers that Lockheed still increased production more.
In turn, the head of acquisition services, Douglas Bush, told reporters that the branch aims to “double, or more than double” the pace of production, but noted that it will take time. This means that Lockheed can increase production to at least 120 HIMARS launchers per year.
Also read: To justify failures on the front, Russians attribute non-existent supercapabilities to HIMARS – Insider
11 October Ukraine received four additional HIMARS multiple rocket launcher systems.
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Recently, the Pentagon stated that the United States conducted successful tests of two Lockheed Martin hypersonic missiles.
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