Lockheed Martin secures $483M U.S. Army contract for missile production

Lockheed Martin’s Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles (JAGM) and HELLFIRE missiles will be sticking around in coming years, given that the United States Army recently awarded the company a $483 million follow-on-production contract.

The contract coupled with a Program Year 3 award, to get the missiles to the Army, U.S. Navy and international customers. It is the third follow-on award tied up in a multiple-year award begun in March 2023, and pushed the total contract value with Lockheed Martin to more than $4.5 billion through 2025.

Both systems are designed and developed in Florida, but manufactured across Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and Alabama. To date, these efforts have yielded more than 140,000 missiles.

“This follow-on contract signals the Army’s continued confidence in both the JAGM and HELLFIRE systems as premier defense capabilities when it comes to ensuring customer readiness worldwide,” Joey Drake, program management director of Multi-Domain Missile Systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said.

Currently, more than 30 customers purchase HELLFIRE missiles worldwide, and this year’s contract made room for Poland to enter the mix. Lockheed Martin stressed that this contract offered the most flexibility for multiple domestic and international customers to procure the missile systems.

The company added that it expects demand for JAGM to rise in the coming years as well, due to increases in international demand.