Lockheed Martin plans to invest $300 million to expand its advanced munitions manufacturing operation in Grand Prairie, Texas, as the U.S. defense industry faces growing pressure to increase weapons production and replenish military inventories.
The company announced the expansion on October 14, 2026, alongside plans to create 6,000 jobs across the United States, including 2,000 in Texas. The project combines additional manufacturing space with a new automated machining operation developed through a partnership with industrial manufacturing company Hadrian.
The investment is part of Lockheed Martin’s wider plan to commit $8 billion to $9 billion through 2030 to expand or modernize more than 20 U.S. facilities involved in munitions production. The company has not disclosed a complete breakdown of the planned jobs by location or a detailed schedule for filling all positions.
Grand Prairie facility expands to more than 735,000 square feet
The expansion will increase Lockheed Martin’s manufacturing footprint in Grand Prairie to more than 735,000 square feet. According to the company, the project includes 100,000 square feet of new space and the conversion of 85,000 square feet of office space into advanced manufacturing areas.
The facility supports Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control business, which produces components for several U.S. missile and precision-strike programs.
These include the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE), Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) and Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM). The company said the expanded operation will supply components to final-assembly facilities in Camden, Arkansas, and Troy, Alabama.
The announcement also provides a snapshot of the facility’s existing production base. Lockheed Martin said nearly 800 production employees work at the site, which manufactured 250,000 parts in 2025. More than 30 additional high-precision machines have already been installed in recent months, and the company expects to add nearly 100 new advanced machines across the facility by the end of 2026.
Those figures describe manufacturing activity and installed equipment, rather than finished missile output. The company has not published a corresponding production target for completed weapons attributable specifically to the Grand Prairie expansion.
Hadrian partnership brings automated machining into the factory
A central part of the project is a 24-machine automated machining cell that Hadrian is expected to bring into the Grand Prairie facility. Lockheed Martin said the cell is scheduled to become operational in early 2027 and will be operated by Lockheed Martin’s own production workforce.
Hadrian will bring innovative, highly automated machining cells to the Grand Prairie facility, operated by the world-class Lockheed Martin production workforce. (Image : Lockheed Martin )
The arrangement brings manufacturing automation, production software and precision-machining processes into an established defense production environment. Rather than relying exclusively on conventional factory expansion, the companies are combining new equipment and commercial manufacturing methods with Lockheed Martin’s existing program and quality-control processes.
The partnership follows a seven-year agreement signed by the companies in 2025, according to Lockheed Martin’s announcement. It also follows the defense contractor’s separate collaboration with GM Defense to apply automotive manufacturing capabilities to defense production.
The practical objective is to increase the availability of machined components needed by downstream assembly operations. However, automation alone does not determine how quickly a finished missile can be delivered. Electronics, propulsion components, specialized materials, testing, supplier availability and government acceptance requirements can also affect production schedules.
Lockheed Martin has not quantified how much the Hadrian cell will increase component output, reduce manufacturing time or lower unit costs. Those measures will be important in assessing the partnership’s eventual results.
Why missile production capacity matters
For the U.S. military, expanding production capacity is a different challenge from developing a new weapon. A missile may already be operational and supported by established procurement contracts, yet manufacturers still need sufficient factory space, skilled workers, specialized equipment and reliable suppliers to deliver it at the required rate.
That distinction matters for systems such as PAC-3 MSE and THAAD, which support U.S. and allied air and missile defense. PrSM provides a precision-strike capability for land forces, while JATM is intended to strengthen U.S. tactical air-to-air weapon capabilities.
Increasing the supply of components can help reduce manufacturing bottlenecks, particularly when multiple programs compete for machining capacity and skilled labor. But the Grand Prairie investment is one part of a larger production network, not a standalone solution to every constraint affecting missile deliveries.
Lockheed Martin said its broader $8 billion to $9 billion investment commitment through 2030 will cover expansion and modernization at more than 20 facilities. The company has also announced initiatives intended to accelerate PAC-3 MSE component manufacturing through cooperation with GM Defense.
These efforts indicate a focus on scaling established weapon programs alongside ongoing development work. For the Pentagon, the benefit will depend on whether additional factory capacity translates into higher deliveries on schedules aligned with military requirements.
Jobs and industrial capacity are separate measures of progress
Lockheed Martin’s plan to create 6,000 U.S. jobs is a substantial workforce target, but it should not be treated as a direct measure of additional missile production.
The company has identified 2,000 of those jobs as being in Texas. It has not provided a complete allocation of the remaining positions across its other facilities, nor has it specified how many jobs will be new production roles, engineering positions, support functions or other specialties.
The workforce expansion also creates a training requirement. Precision machining for defense components involves demanding production tolerances, process documentation and quality assurance. Bringing new employees and automated equipment into service requires training and validation before the additional capacity can consistently support deliveries.
For Grand Prairie, the immediate milestones are more tangible: completing the facility expansion, installing the planned machinery and bringing the Hadrian cell online in early 2027. The longer-term test will be whether these investments lead to measurable gains in component throughput and more predictable deliveries to missile assembly facilities.
Lockheed Martin’s announcement establishes its investment and employment plans, but it does not yet demonstrate the resulting increase in finished missile production. That distinction will remain important as the company expands its U.S. munitions manufacturing network.
