Christine Thropp
Jim Taiclet, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin and a 2022 Wash100 Award recipient, has shared the defense company’s goal of increasing its annual manufacturing capacity for Javelin missiles from 2,100 to 4,000 to meet U.S. and ally requirements.
In an interview with CBS News, Taiclet said boosting production to its target numbers will take several years– a few months at the earliest– because the supply chain also needs to scale its capacity.
“We are accelerating our investment in [Pike County Operations] factory and in our workforce [in Troy, Alabama]. So we’re already investing ahead of time to buy tooling, to expand the plant and also support our suppliers to get ready to ramp up production,” he explained.
Taiclet also noted the need for Lockheed to have a large supply of Javelin, Stingers, advanced cruise missiles and other weapon systems considering the Ukraine conflict and other requirements from the U.S., its allies and those in the Asia-Pacific region.
“We know that there’s going to be increased demand for those kinds of equipment, too, because the threat between Russia and China is just going to increase even after the Ukraine war, we hope is over soon.”
The Lockheed chief executive also remarked about investing more in domestic microprocessor supply, anticipating a greater need for those in the future.
