May 8, 2022 - Economy

Lockheed Martin aims to nearly double Javelin production

Axios

President Joe Biden delivers a speech during his visit at Lockheed Martin facility which manufactures weapon systems such as Javelin anti-tank missiles, on May 3. — President Biden delivers a speech May 3 at a Lockheed Martin facility in Troy, Ala., which makes Javelin anti-tank missiles that the U.S. is providing to Ukraine. Photo: Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Lockheed Martin intends to almost double production of Javelin missiles from 2,100 per year to 4,000 a year, CEO James Taiclet told CBS News on Sunday.

Why it matters: The U.S. has sent thousands of Javelins to Ukraine, where the antitank missiles have been an effective weapon in the fight against Russia's invading forces.

President Biden last week visited a Lockheed Martin facility in Alabama that makes the weapons in partnership with Raytheon Technologies as he urged Congress to pass a $33 billion humanitarian and military aid package for Ukraine, Reuters notes.

What they're saying: Taiclet told CBS News' "Face the Nation" that efforts to nearly double production "will take a number of months, maybe even a couple of years to get there because we have to get our supply chain to also crank up," but he expected this to happen "in a reasonable amount of time."

"We're starting now to ramp it up because we have an active production line right now that the president saw," Taiclet said.
"We've got a supply chain that's active in addition to that. So we can start turning up the heat now and ramping the production immediately because of those circumstances," he added.

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Lockheed Martin aims to nearly double Javelin production

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