Lockheed Martin partners with Hadrian to accelerate missile manufacturing

The US Army tests its Precision Strike Missile. (US Army )

Lockheed Martin has teamed with US firm Hadrian to integrate its manufacturing capabilities and accelerate missile production, the company announced on 8 December.

Under the memorandum of understanding (MOU), “Hadrian will deploy its factory-as-a-service model, which includes embedding a scalable machining manufacturing and inspection cell, to produce parts at a Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control site”, Lockheed said in a statement.

“This flexible production cell [comprises] computer numerical control (CNC) machines, advanced robotics, and Hadrian's manufacturing execution platform, which will enable Lockheed Martin and Hadrian to increase rate for a variety of machined parts quickly and efficiently for products like PAC-3 MSE [Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement], THAAD [Terminal High Altitude Area Defense], PrSM [Precision Strike Missile], and GMLRS [Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System],” the statement said.

“This project is a key enabler for Lockheed Martin to increase production output capacity, ensuring we can meet the high demand for our customers' munitions needs,” Tom Carrubba, vice-president for production operations at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control (MFC), said in the statement.

“By combining Hadrian's advanced manufacturing capabilities with Lockheed Martin's expertise, we're streamlining production for current and future critical programs and laying the groundwork for more collaborations like this across the industry,” added Chris Power, CEO of Hadrian.

The goal is to “create a more resilient and responsive production ecosystem, one that becomes more capable as demands grow and challenges emerge”, according to the statement.

Lockheed hopes to achieve lead time and unit cost savings for high complexity parts for its programmes that are ramping up, Carrubba told Janes on 18 December, adding that this would be attained through reduced tooling and increased machine utilisation.