Lockheed Martin announced that it will invest $16.5m in its missile engineering facility in Huntsville, Alabama on 14 November 2023, adding an additional 25,000 square feet to its campus.

The decision was made to establish a Missile System Integration Laboratory (MSIL) that will enable the US defence prime to develop advanced missile capabilities.

The company will conduct development, testing and system integration for its Next-Generation Interceptor (NGI), a weapon system that intercepts ballistic missile threats for the US Missile Defence Agency.

MSIL will also house a digital engineering center and key infrastructure to create and maintain a digital thread throughout the integration process.

“This facility serves as a testbed to prove out our hardware and software integration, adding new levels of digital capability, agility and connectivity with our customers,” said Sarah Reeves, vice president of NGI at Lockheed Martin.

“It is another example of Lockheed Martin’s investment in the technology and advanced facilities critical to reducing risk for our NGI programme. The MSIL brings us even closer to flight testing and production of our interceptor, which will revolutionise US homeland missile defence.”

Huntsville capacity competition

On the same day, another US defence prime, Boeing, announced that it will expand its own Huntsville campus to increase its annual Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) missile production by 30%.

This reflects the importance of Huntsville in the US, as well as global, missile defence sector.

“Lockheed Martin is committed to North Alabama and this facility is further evidence of that,” said Robert Lightfoot, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space.

“We are pleased to celebrate adding an advanced facility to our Huntsville campus today -- the same year we mark 60 years in the Rocket City supporting our customers.”

Additional reporting from Harry McNeil.