Lockheed plans to triple PAC-3 missile output

Lockheed Martin plans to triple production of PAC-3 interceptor missiles to 2,000 by the end of next year, as General Motors begins delivering missile components for the defence contractor.

Lockheed said Thursday that GM had delivered its first components for Lockheed PAC-3 missiles. GM is supplying precision castings to house the weapon. The companies signed a formal contract on August 6, and the first batch of PAC-3 components was delivered on August 28, Lockheed said.

A GM spokesman said the deliveries were the company's first for missiles in modern times and that PAC-3 production is ongoing.

Lockheed chief executive Jim Taiclet told a Morgan Stanley conference that there is significant international demand for PAC-3 missiles. He said Lockheed is targeting more than a tripling of production volumes, but that building the supply chain will take time.

Lockheed described the fast GM delivery as part of a push to move with "wartime urgency" for the Pentagon. Tim Cahill, president of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said the 22-day turnaround showed the company was delivering for US troops faster and with greater capacity.

A Department of Defense inspector general report released this week said munitions use in Operation Epic Fury had caused strategic inventory shortfalls and exposed industrial bottlenecks in munitions resupply.

A September 15 Congressional Budget Office report said the Iran conflict had reduced US supplies of missile defence interceptors and would leave the United States with a reduced interceptor inventory for several years. The CBO said the conflict had cost the US military about $38 billion as of August 1.

GM chief executive Mary Barra said in July that the company expected defence revenue of $700 million in 2026, describing defence work as a way to improve margins and become less cyclical.