From 300 to 4,000 Per Year Australia's GMLRS Factory Opens, Adding to US's 14,000 Annual Production

 

From 300 to 4,000 Per Year Australia's GMLRS Factory Opens, Adding to US's 14,000 Annual Production

GMLRS launch / Photo credit: U.S. Departament of War

Australia has already begun production of first batch of American GMLRS missiles and plans to reach pace of 4,000 units per year from 2029

By March 2026, Australian industry will manufacture the first batch of GMLRS ammunition for M142 HIMARS and M270 MLRS. And starting from 2029, it's planned to produce 4,000 missiles per year.

As Janes writes, for now the U.S. will supply components from which missiles will be assembled in Australia. Also, for the first time, American military will oversee the process to ensure quality level.

M142 HIMARS MLRS / Photo credit: U.S. Departament of War

In the future, it's planned to involve more and more Australian companies in production. At the same time, they will be integrated not only into local assembly, but also into Lockheed Martin's global supply chains.

For now, the pace of production will be 300 units per year, but will increase over time. The work is handled by a plant in Port Wakefield, South Australia, which opened at the beginning of December 2025.

M142 HIMARS MLRS launches GMLRS missile / Photo credit: U.S. Departament of War

Defense Express notes that this is quite an important achievement for increasing GMLRS production rates. Active experience of Ukraines Defense Forces shows the importance of having a large number of such ammunition for constant use.

Recall that Australia signed a contract for localization back in January 2024, so deployment of everything and achieving results will take as much as two years. The country also joined the ATACMS replacement program the PrSM ballistic missile.

M270 MLRS and GMLRS missile pods / Photo credit: U.S. Departament of War

Overall, this year the U.S. managed to achieve GMLRS production volumes of 14,000 units per year. However, further increase will be quite problematic due to a set of various factors.

This is not the only American weapon whose production is being increased by deploying new capacities abroad. Recently, Japan delivered the first batch of PAC-3 MSE missiles for the Patriot air defense system to the U.S., although there are certain restrictions on further supply.