Northrop Grumman has begun the full production of the propulsion system used with the US Army’s guided multiple launch rocket system (GMLRS).
This signifies the fulfilment of the army’s full contract production quantity.
The latest milestone comes after the company successfully handed over the 15,000th rocket motor and the 20,000th warhead to Lockheed Martin to complete their final integration into the GMLRS weapon system.
Northrop Grumman missile products vice-president Jim Kalberer said: “We are proactively investing in production facilities and technologies in support of producing even higher rates of rocket motors faster and more affordably to meet customer’s anticipated demand.
“We are leveraging our capacity and modern manufacturing facilities to deliver critical military needs.”
Final assembling of the propulsion system will be carried out at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Camden, Arkansas, US.
The propulsion system used with GMLRS is produced at Northop Grumman’s purpose-built manufacturing facility, Allegany Ballistics Laboratory in Rocket Centre, West Virginia, US.
The company started the production of rocket motors for the US Army’s GMLRS programme in 2019.
The facility allows Northrop Grumman to deliver an efficient design, development, and production of this critical component of the missile system.
The associated process involves the use of different lean manufacturing and digital engineering technologies.
Northrop Grumman said that the use of an ignition safety device provides structural integrity to the system under extreme heat, shock, and adjacent detonations conditions while also enhancing the weapon system’s safety characteristics by preventing unwanted combustion.
Lockheed Martin Precision Fires vice-president Jay Price said: “Northrop Grumman is a trusted supplier of GMLRS rocket motors, with robust manufacturing capacity to meet demands of our customer.”
In December 2021, Northrop Grumman completed the delivery of the 10,000th GMLRS propulsion system.
