Defense Industry
Lockheed Martin puts $300 million into Grand Prairie, Texas, as it expands munitions production
The company says the Texas site will support PAC-3 MSE, THAAD, PrSM and JATM, with a Hadrian machining cell due in early 2027 and 6,000 new US jobs planned.
Lockheed Martin said on 14 October that it will expand advanced munitions manufacturing in Texas, with a $300 million investment at its Grand Prairie site, as part of a plan to create 6,000 US jobs, 2,000 of them in Texas. The announcement was made in Dallas and issued by the company; Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael P. Duffey is quoted in the release.
What is changing at Grand Prairie
According to the company, the Grand Prairie facility will grow to more than 735,000 square feet, including about 100,000 square feet of new space and 85,000 square feet of former office space converted to manufacturing. The focus is automation, digital manufacturing and high-precision machining. Lockheed Martin says it has installed more than 30 additional high-precision machines and expects nearly 100 more by the end of 2026.
The site has nearly 800 production employees and produced 250,000 parts in 2025, the company says. It supports all of the Missiles and Fire Control programmes, including PAC-3 MSE, THAAD, PrSM and JATM, and ships components to final-assembly sites in Camden, Arkansas, and Troy, Alabama.
Hadrian partnership
Lockheed Martin is also working with the manufacturer Hadrian on automated production. A 24-machine automated machining cell, expected to be operational in early 2027, will be run by Lockheed Martin’s own workforce. The release says the partnership follows a seven-year agreement signed in 2025.
Part of a wider push
The company says it plans to invest $8 billion to $9 billion through 2030 to scale munitions production and to modernise or expand more than 20 US facilities, and that it is pursuing commercially inspired contracting for PAC-3 MSE, THAAD, PrSM and JATM.
Chairman, president and chief executive Jim Taiclet said: “we’re transforming manufacturing to deliver critical munitions at speed and scale.” Duffey said: “Today in Grand Prairie, American industry is answering the call to support our warfighters.” Hadrian chief executive Chris Power said: “The warfighter can’t wait on peacetime timelines.”
The expansion follows other recent supply-chain moves by the company, including a deal with Avio on solid rocket motors, covered in Lockheed Martin and Avio sign deal on solid rocket motors for ER GMLRS and PrSM missiles, and the unveiling of the interceptor described in PAC-3 Edge: Lockheed Martin unveils the new Patriot interceptor.