Lockheed Martin delivers 10,000th GMLRS rocket to the US Army

Lockheed Martin marked the delivery of the 10,000th Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rocket during a ceremony held at its Camden, AR, facility today. GMLRS is an all-weather, precision strike, artillery rocket system that achieves greater range and precision accuracy requiring fewer rockets to defeat targets and limiting collateral damage.

"The delivery of the 10,000th GMLRS marks a significant milestone in the program," said Col. David J. Rice, US Army program manager for Precision Fires, Rocket and Missile Systems. "This is a superior system that provides responsive, precision fires enabled by unsurpassed system reliability and maintainability. The team, led by Lockheed Martin, consisting of both government and industry partners, has worked diligently to ensure mission success through this technology."

The system is produced at the company's facilities in Camden, AR, and Dallas, TX.

"The success of this system speaks for the quality work that our team is doing every day," said Col. Tony Daskevich, Army capability manager for Field Artillery Rocket and Missiles. "We are a constant in this fight, always mission ready and on target. Precision is the name of the game when it comes to our missions, and that is why our soldiers and leaders so appreciate this system."

GMLRS provides the Joint Warfighter with persistent, responsive, long-range precision strike capability against traditional and hybrid threats. GMLRS' reliability rate exceeds 98 percent and, to date, more than 1,500 rockets have been successfully fired in combat.

"This production milestone was made possible through the commitment of our hardworking employees here in Camden who are proud to provide this combat proven capability to the US Army, the US Marine Corps, and our allied forces," said Scott Arnold, vice president for Precision Fires at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.

Guided Unitary is the newest variant of MLRS rockets which integrates a unitary warhead with a multi-mode fuze to expand the MLRS target set to include point targets within urban and complex environments, significantly minimizing collateral damage. In January 2005, the US Army issued an Urgent Needs Statement for acceleration of Guided Unitary deliveries in support of ongoing operations. Lockheed Martin delivered the first 72 GMLRS Unitary rockets in June 2005 satisfying the requirements of the Urgent Needs Statement. The first 900-plus rockets were delivered to the US in 2005 and 2006.

Camden Operations produces the combat-proven High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launcher and a family of munitions, which includes the Guided MLRS Rocket.

Source: Lockheed Martin