General Motors and Lockheed Martin join forces to strengthen the American defense industrial base.
The collaboration, urged by the Trump administration, is presented as a commitment to protect national security by strengthening the U.S. industrial base in the defense sector, reports Axios.
This is not the first time the automaker has supported the military side: GM built tanks for the country during World War II. Its GM Defense division is one of the company’s newest but rapidly growing business segments, reestablished in 2017 with clients such as the U.S. Army, intelligence services, and NASA, recalls CNBC.
Moreover, just yesterday Bloomberg News reported that GM was in talks with RTX and L3Harris to support weapons manufacturers in increasing production, with a potential agreement expected to involve activities similar to those with Lockheed Martin.
All the details.
THE PENTAGON DEMANDS MORE WEAPONS PRODUCTION
The partnership arises in response to the Pentagon’s requests to rapidly increase the production of missiles and interceptors. The Trump administration has asked major U.S. defense companies to triple or quadruple the production of ammunition considered strategic over the next three to seven years.
The goal is to reduce the production times of systems that currently require between 24 and 36 months to be completed. U.S. weapons stockpiles have decreased due to conflicts in Iran and Ukraine, pushing Washington to demand a significant increase in production rates, notes the Financial Times.
THE ROLE OF GENERAL MOTORS
According to statements from the two companies, General Motors will provide Lockheed Martin with its expertise in large-scale industrial production, advanced engineering, process digitization, and supply chain management.
“The current context forces us to rethink how to strengthen the industrial base,” said Frank St John, Chief Operating Officer of Lockheed Martin. “Production capacity is critical to national security,” and GM would bring “expertise in high-rate manufacturing, advanced engineering, digital tools, and supply chain management.”
Bruce Brown, GM’s Vice President of Strategy, emphasized how the group has already applied commercial technologies to national security programs. Examples cited include infantry squad vehicles derived from the Chevrolet Colorado pickup, technological contributions to the Pegasus lunar vehicle, and support provided during the Covid-19 pandemic to accelerate ventilator production.
FOCUS ON AMMUNITION AND SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCE
The collaboration will be primarily focused on ammunition, though not exclusively limited to this sector.
“The partnership will focus on ammunition,” explained St John.
In addition to increasing production capacity, the agreement aims to make supply chains more resilient, facilitate component sourcing, and introduce advanced design and manufacturing methods.
The announcement comes after a series of talks between the Pentagon and General Motors and follows rumors that Ford could also contribute to the U.S. defense supply chains by producing components for various weapon systems.
PLANNED INVESTMENTS
General Motors is investing $9 billion in capital and $7 billion in research and development for its overall operations this year but has not disclosed its allocation to the GM Defense division.
To meet the Pentagon’s request to “triple or quadruple” weapons production within three to four years, Lockheed is investing $9 billion across 20 plants.
The agreement with GM builds on these efforts to further accelerate the process, St. John said.
“We will be able to reshape the manufacturing process, not only to increase production but also to sustain it and ensure solid production capacity through the first half of the 2030s,” added the Lockheed Martin executive.
INCREASING PRODUCTION OF PATRIOT, THAAD, AND PRECISION STRIKE
Finally, as FT recalls, Lockheed Martin has already signed framework agreements with the U.S. government to significantly increase the production of some of the main munitions used by the American armed forces.
The company aims to nearly triple the production of Patriot interceptors and quadruple that of THAAD interceptors over the next seven years. A similar increase is expected for Precision Strike missiles, whose production should quadruple.
