Lockheed Martin strengthens supply chain resilience

Above: (left to right) Lockheed Martin’s PAC-3 and THAAD missiles.
Courtesy Lockheed Martin  

With unprecedented demand driven by combat-proven performance, Lockheed Martin is actively strengthening the resilience of its supply chain, deepening collaboration with suppliers and driving innovation across operations.  

Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control (MFC) business hosted an Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) supplier summit with more than 200 domestic and international suppliers focused on building stronger relationships, emphasising speed and driving solutions to better prepare for current and future threats. 

During the summit, Lockheed Martin asked suppliers to fully lean into the mission, embracing innovative ideas and new ways of working to help meet urgent demand and deliver critical capabilities without delay. Speakers included key US government customers, along with former and current air defenders who have used THAAD and PAC-3 MSE systems in flight tests and combat missions.

“The recent integrated air and missile defence supplier summit reinforced Lockheed Martin’s commitment to delivering combat-proven missile-defence solutions faster than any adversary can field a threat,” said Tim Cahill, president, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “By strengthening partnerships across the industrial base, the company is building the supply chain resilience that underpins the rapid, affordable fielding of capabilities our warfighters demand. 
"Working alongside government and supplier partners, we are confident we can meet current and accelerated production rates required by American and allied forces.”

Supplier events like these are just one part of Lockheed Martin’s efforts to build a strong and reliable supply chain – an effort that is more critical than ever as demand accelerates across multiple programmes. 

In 2024, for example, Lockheed Martin delivered more than 23,000 missiles to American and allied forces. Production for PAC-3 alone increased more than 30% in 2024, with further growth of more than 20% planned for 2025. The recent $9.8 billion contract for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) interceptors – the largest in MFC history – underscores this momentum. 

Additionally, THAAD’s recent deployment and operational use has put significant focus on THAAD’s capability against evolving missile threats. With existing tooling and capacity to produce additional interceptors, Lockheed Martin is exploring opportunities to dramatically increase THAAD production.

“The supply chain is essential to delivering the IAMD capabilities our nation and allies depend on,” said Jason Reynolds, vice president, Integrated Air and Missile Defense at Lockheed Martin. “When Lockheed Martin, our customers and every supplier are aligned, we create the agility necessary to meet rapidly evolving threats.”

Lockheed Martin is proactively strengthening its supply chain to ensure it can continue to deliver critical capabilities by working with more than 13,000 suppliers to safeguard critical production lines by diversifying suppliers, adding dual-source options and insourcing where needed, whilst continuously monitoring the supplier network to spot and correct bottlenecks before they impact production. 

Lockheed Martin recently celebrated the groundbreaking of a new Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) facility alongside General Dynamics. This strategic investment will increase domestic SRM production capacity and reduce dependency on limited sources. The new manufacturing site in Camden, Arkansas, spans 270 acres and will feature over 50,000 square feet of production space across 16 purpose-built facilities, supporting the full lifecycle of solid rocket motor development and manufacturing. It remains on track for completion to support the qualification builds planned in 2026. 

On a global scale, Lockheed Martin actively participates in partner-nation defence industry days, bringing together suppliers and small businesses to explore opportunities that are often critical for allied defence.

MFC’s international co-production efforts are also helping build a more robust supply chain. For example, expanded industrial cooperation in Spain under the PAC-3 MSE interceptor program is allowing Spanish industry to compete for component manufacturing while the core engineering, integration and final system delivery remains anchored in the US Additionally, THAAD partnerships in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are focused on localising the manufacture of THAAD interceptor canisters and THAAD missile round pallets in Saudi Arabia. 

Under the WISŁA offset programme, Lockheed Martin has forged partnerships with key Polish defence companies to execute critical projects that sustain engineering jobs and provide new areas of technology, training and technical assistance to the Polish defense industrial base. These projects provide capabilities that strengthen Poland’s regional security and contribute to the success of the worldwide PAC-3 programme. At the IAMD supplier summit, Polish companies joined Lockheed Martin for their first summit as official suppliers. 

By leveraging advanced digital tools and supply chain analytics, Lockheed Martin and its global supply chain partners are able to anticipate challenges, mitigate disruptions and accelerate deliveries to where they are needed most. Looking ahead, Lockheed Martin remains focused on strengthening every link in its supply chain to meet the evolving demands of global security. Through a process of continuously identifying gaps and addressing them quickly, the company is building a more agile, transparent and resilient industrial base.