On Friday, May 9, 2025, the U.S. Army Contracting Command (ACC) at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense, signed a framework agreement worth 742,179,564 USD with Lockheed Martin for the production of M142 HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) multiple rocket launchers.
Photo: Lockheed Martin
No funds have been obligated yet. It is expected that task orders will be issued, with a completion date set for March 31, 2027. The location of the work has also not been specified, although the M142 HIMARS system is currently being mass-produced at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Grand Prairie, Texas.
This is another framework agreement related to the increased global demand for the M142 HIMARS rocket system. On February 24 of this year, the company announced on social media that it had ramped up launcher production last year, reaching 96 units, compared to 60 in 2023 and 48 in 2022.
The previous framework agreement for the production of M142 HIMARS was signed on May 8, 2024, with a value of 861,333,188 USD. It was amended on June 3 of the same year by an additional 1,933,646,875 USD, bringing the total order value to 2,794,980,063 USD.
Ammunition production, including that used by this system, is also increasing. On April 24 of this year, the ACC command at Redstone Arsenal published a notice on the System for Award Management (SAM) procurement platform regarding a planned market survey aimed at identifying possibilities for increasing the production rate of 227 mm GMLRS (Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System) guided rocket ammunition. Currently, according to Lockheed Martin, production stands at 14,000 units per year, and the U.S. Army aims to raise that to 19,000 by 2028.
On March 28 of this year, the ACC signed a framework agreement worth 4,937,045,400 USD with Lockheed Martin for the production and delivery of another batch of Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) in the Increment 1 version.
Recently, the manufacturer has begun deliveries of HIMARS launchers to Estonia, Australia, and Taiwan, while Canada has expressed interest in the system (Belgium is also potentially seeking multiple rocket launchers but has not yet specified which system). This year, Lithuania is expected to receive its sets. In the coming years, Latvia, Croatia, Italy, and likely Norway and Morocco will join them. Previously, the system was delivered to the armed forces of Poland, Romania, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, as well as to Ukraine under U.S. and German military aid. The Kingdom of the Netherlands canceled its purchase (opting instead for the Israeli PULS system), and the previous administration of President Joe Biden did not approve the sale to Hungary.