Arms and Assembly Lines
Lockheed Martin and General Motors Expand US Weapons Production
One of the top weapons manufacturers in the world, Lockheed Martin, and automaker General Motors announced on Tuesday, 16 June, a new collaboration to produce critical munitions and other weapons.
Companies claimed the collaboration was a result of the efforts of the US Department of War and the Pentagon, as the Donald Trump administration seeks to “double or triple” the capacity and rate of production of weapons in the country.
“Working under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Lockheed Martin and GM Defence will explore opportunities to accelerate the delivery of critical capabilities and innovation by combining Lockheed Martin’s defence production expertise with General Motors' advanced industrial capabilities in high-rate commercial manufacturing and engineering,” Lockheed Martin said in a press release.
According to the press release, the collaboration will focus on “strengthening defence supply chains and advancing manufacturing and design capabilities to expand production capacity.”
“This collaboration brings together two leaders in American manufacturing and innovation to explore new ways to strengthen the defence industrial base, expand production capacity and accelerate the delivery of critical capacities” for the US and its allies, said Frank St John, chief operating officer of Lockheed Martin.
Lockheed Martin is one of the largest weapon manufacturers in the world and the largest supplier of weapons to the US Army. It is known as the producer of the F-35, the THAAD air defence system and Black Hawk helicopters, among others.
Though GM has a history of building tanks for the US Army during the Second World War, it has largely retained its status as one of the world’s largest automakers for decades. It re-established its weapon-manufacturing unit called GM Defence only in 2017.
According to the FT, both GM and Lockheed are planning to invest around USD 25 billion in the coming years in separate projects, including research and development, but largely related to the collaboration.
The collaboration is part of the Donald Trump administration’s push for the expanded and accelerated production of weapons in the country, which is already the world’s largest producer and exporter with over a 40% share in the global arms trade.
The Trump administration’s move is a result of the experiences during the joint US-Israeli war against Iran and its weapon supplies in the Ukraine war.
Despite its public denial of reports about the rapidly-dwindling stockpile of weapons and critical munitions following the war with Iran, whose “hot” phase lasted barely over a month, the Pentagon has been looking to enhance weapons manufacturing capacity in the country.
Both companies acknowledged their tie-up was pushed and facilitated by the Pentagon in particular to boost the production of missiles and air defence interceptors.
According to a report in the FT, the Pentagon has urged the defence manufacturers to double or triple the rate of production of critical munitions over the next three to seven years.
Currently critical munitions and missile defence systems usually take around 24 to 36 months to produce.
The Pentagon has reportedly tried to rope in another big automobile manufacturer, Ford, for similar collaboration with other defence manufacturers in the country.
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