The Army is looking for a defense contractor that can manufacture thousands of ground-launched rockets a year over the next decade, amid reports of dwindling stockpiles of critical munitions.
The Army on Monday issued a survey for companies capable of producing ordnance for the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System. The winner of the contract will produce more than 19,000 GLMRS rocket variants a year, with initial deliveries starting in February 2028.
The contract would run until 2034, when more than 133,000 rockets will have been delivered to the Army.
“Submissions must outline the most efficient and cost-effective methods for achieving this production rate,” the Army said in the announcement. “Respondents should assess the risks and benefits of various production options and recommend contracting strategies that maximize value to the [U.S. government] while minimizing contractor’s cost risk.”
The rockets are fired from the M270-series Multiple Launch Rocket System and the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launcher platforms. The 200-pound payload has two primary variants: a unitary warhead that can carry out precision strikes and another capable of dispersing cluster munitions over a larger area.
The U.S. military has extensively used HIMARS systems equipped with GMLRS precision-guided rockets against Iranian targets.
In addition, the U.S. and NATO allies such as Germany and the United Kingdom provided Ukraine with thousands of ground-launched rockets in its conflict with Russia.
“Wars fought by the United States in the past decade have required high-end munitions at levels not needed during the counterterrorism campaigns of the early twenty-first century,” the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank said in a recent report.
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