Under the agreement, Lockheed Martin will continue manufacturing the precision-guided rocket systems until 20 October 2027. The Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, will determine work locations and funding details when each order is issued.
The GMLRS forms part of the MLRS Family of Munitions (MFOM), which includes various precision-strike rockets and missiles. These “combat-proven low-cost, low-risk rounds greatly reduce collateral damage and provide tremendous capability and flexibility in addressing today’s threats,” the company said.
The system offers “persistent, responsive, all-weather, rapidly-deployable, long-range, surface-to-surface, precision-strike capability.” It can be fired from both the MLRS M270 and HIMARS launchers, with each M270 carrying two pods of six rockets and HIMARS carrying one pod.
More than 60,000 GMLRS rockets have been produced to date, with a reliability rating exceeding 98 percent. Current variants include the Unitary round, with a 200-pound warhead and a range of over 70 kilometres, and the Alternative Warhead round, which meets U.S. and international cluster munitions policies.
An Extended-Range GMLRS is also in development, offering a range of up to 150 kilometres in all weather conditions. The ER GMLRS retains compatibility with HIMARS and MLRS M270 launchers while incorporating a larger motor and improved manoeuvrability.
