Lockheed Martin and GM Defense partner to bolster the US manufacturing and defense industrial base

Lockheed Martin and GM Defense announced a new collaboration aimed at strengthening America’s manufacturing and defense industrial base. The companies will work under a memorandum of understanding to explore ways to accelerate delivery of critical capabilities and innovation by pairing Lockheed Martin’s defense production expertise with General Motors’ high-rate commercial manufacturing and engineering.

The effort will concentrate on three areas: bolstering defense supply chains, advancing manufacturing and design capabilities, and evaluating opportunities to expand production capacity using commercial manufacturing expertise and infrastructure. Initial steps include exploring methods to speed production readiness and applying proven commercial manufacturing approaches to meet defense production needs.

“America’s security depends not only on developing advanced technologies, but on our ability to produce them quickly, reliably and at scale,” said Frank St. John, chief operating officer, Lockheed Martin. “This collaboration brings together two leaders in American manufacturing and innovation to explore new ways to strengthen the defense industrial base, expand production capacity and accelerate delivery of critical capabilities for the United States and its allies.”

“Working together, GM Defense and Lockheed will further strengthen American manufacturing and national defense by driving greater speed, efficiency, and innovation in the aerospace and defense sectors,” said Steve duMont, president of GM Defense. “Over the coming weeks, we will be working to identify initial projects to pursue together.”

The companies said the initiative reflects growing demand across the defense sector for greater production capacity, supply chain resilience and manufacturing agility, with the goal of identifying opportunities to shorten timelines while maintaining quality, performance and reliability for mission-critical systems.