Lockheed Martin to Double Javelin Missile Production to 4,000 per Year

Javelin antitank missiles are displayed on the assembly line as President Joe Biden tours a Lockheed Martin weapons factory in Troy, Ala., on May 3, 2022. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

U.S. aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp. has said it plans to nearly double its production of Javelin missiles in the next couple of years to help beef up U.S. supplies and aid to Ukraine.

Lockheed Martin CEO James Taiclet announced the move in an interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation“ on May 8. He said the company—which has sent some of its antitank weapons to Ukraine amid its fight against Russian forces—is aiming to ramp up production to 4,000 missiles per year.

Taiclet said the decision to increase production was made to ensure that it can continue to send more missiles to Ukraine, while also making sure that military supplies in the United States aren’t depleted.

“So right now, our capacity is 2,100 Javelin missiles per year. We’re endeavoring to take that up to 4,000 per year, and that will take a number of months, maybe even a couple of years to get there because we have to get our supply chain to also crank up,” he said. “We think we can almost double the capacity in a reasonable amount of time.”

He noted that the Bipartisan Innovation Act, if approved by Congress, could help to boost domestic production with multibillion-dollar investments in America’s semiconductor industry while also helping to reduce reliance on foreign countries.

“It will be extremely helpful to have the Bipartisan Innovation Act passed, for example, because we do need to invest more in the infrastructure in the U.S. so we have domestic supply, especially in microprocessors,” he said.

“And so our production line can run today, but in the future, we’re going to need more domestic capability and microprocessor, not only design but manufacturing, testing, et cetera, so that we have assured supply of those microprocessors in the future.”

President Joe Biden has urged Congress to swiftly pass the measure to help better protect the United States from future supply chain issues, touting it as a way to cut costs and strengthen economic and national security.

“It’s no wonder the Chinese Communist Party is literally lobbying—paying lobbyists—against this bill passing,” he told reporters at a White House press briefing on May 6.

Biden last week visited a Lockheed Martin facility in Alabama that manufactures the Javelin missiles, which are made jointly by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies. During that visit, he took the opportunity to press Congress to approve his proposed $33 billion package of assistance for Ukraine, which includes more than $20 billion in military aid.

Taiclet noted that the conflict in Ukraine has highlighted Lockheed Martin’s need to have “superior systems in large enough numbers,” such as Javelin, Stinger, and Patriot missiles, and advanced cruise missiles, noting that there is likely to be increased demand for such equipment even after the war in Ukraine is over.

“We know that there’s going to be increased demand for those kinds of equipment, too, because the threat between Russia and China is just going to increase even after the Ukraine war,” he said.

“Those two nations, and, regionally, Iran and North Korea are not going to get less active. Probably, they’re going to get more active. So we want to make sure we can supply our allies and our country what they need to defend against that.”