Lockheed Martin announced that it had received a $227 million contract from the U.S. Army for the first order of the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System alternative warhead, which will be produced at the defense contractor’s missile production facility in Camden.
“GMLRS is a combat proven precision-strike system,” said Ken Musculus, vice president of Tactical Missiles for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “We are confident that the new GMLRS Alternative Warhead will also provide reliable, highly accurate capability for our domestic and international customers.”
Included in the contract is a U.S. government foreign military sale of GMLRS Unitary rockets to Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. GMLRS is an all-weather rocket designed for fast deployment that delivers precision strike beyond the reach of most conventional weapons. GMLRS Unitary rockets greatly exceed the required combat reliability rate and have established a reputation for affordability, Lockheed officials said.
In combat operations, each GMLRS rocket is packaged in an MLRS launch pod and is fired from the Lockheed Martin HIMARS or M270 family of launchers. GMLRS customers include the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, U.K., Japan, Jordan, Singapore, Bahrain and the UAE.
The alternative warhead is designed to engage the same target set and achieve the same area-effects requirement as the old MLRS submunition warheads, but without the lingering danger of unexploded ordnance, Lockheed Martin official said. MLRS rockets with submunition warheads ended production approximately seven years ago.
Lockheed Martin has produced more than 25,000 GMLRS rockets at Camden, which has received more than 60 awards over the last decade, including the 2012 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the Shingo Silver Medallion Award for Operation Excellence.
Last week, Lockheed Martin said it planned to file a protest challenging the $6.7 billion award to Oshkosh Defense manufacture the first order of 17,000 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles that will replace the unarmored Humvee.
The protest was officially filed on Monday, Sept. 14. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which will handle the protest, the due date for a decision on the contract award is due Dec. 23.
