Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company, will leverage ongoing upgrades to its solid rocket motor manufacturing facilities to fulfill a new contract from Lockheed Martin to continue providing propulsion systems for the U.S. Army’s Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) program. Last year, the Army awarded Lockheed Martin a contract modification to increase GMLRS production to meet increased domestic and international demand. Aerojet Rocketdyne, which has delivered more than 35,000 steel- and composite-cased GMLRS motors to date, announced last year it had been purchasing new equipment, automating processes, and incorporating improved X-ray technology to increase production efficiency.
“Aerojet Rocketdyne’s proven propulsion has powered the GMLRS for decades. Our plan remains to continue automating processes and modernizing facilities in 2024 that will enhance efficiency as we continue delivering this essential piece of GMLRS,” said Tyler Evans, President of Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Missile Solutions sector.
Last April, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization announced an agreement with Aerojet Rocketdyne to help expand and modernize the company’s solid rocket motor production facilities in Camden, Arkansas, Huntsville, Alabama, and Orange County, Virginia. Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rockets have a GPS-aided inertial navigation system and extended range. Flight control is accomplished by four forward-mounted canards driven by electromechanical actuators. GMLRS was among the tactical missile systems included in the announcement. Aerojet Rocketdyne is the only company that produces both steel- and composite-cased motors for GMLRS, which has a range of more than 70 kilometers.
M30 rockets have an area-effects warhead, while M31 rockets have a unitary warhead, but the rockets are otherwise identical.[60] By December 2021, 50,000 GMLRS rockets had been produced, with yearly production then exceeding 9,000 rockets. Each rocket pod contains 6 identical rockets. The cost of an M31 missile is estimated at $500,000, though this may be the “export price”, always higher than the amount charged to the U.S. Army. According to the U.S. Army’s budget, it will pay about $168,000 for each GMLRS in 2023. According to a U.S. Department of Defense document the maximum demonstrated performance of a GMLRS is 84 km (52 mi), a figure also reported elsewhere. Another source reports a maximum range of about 90 km (56 mi).
