The US has supplied Ukraine with thousands of Javelin antitank weapon systems with plans in motion to sell many more to allies and partners. (Lockheed Martin)
WASHINGTON — At a time when the Army is looking for ways to ramp up weapon production and increase stockpiles, it is now taking steps to secure the Javelin production line through a new three-year deal worth up to $7.2 billion.
The service announced the new contract with the Javelin Joint Venture, composed of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies, on Wednesday and said the new “indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity” agreement will span fiscal 2023 to 2026. While the deal could ultimately reach that $7.2 billion ceiling, the initial base order is for an unspecified number of Javelins valued at $1 billion.
“The Army, along with industry partners, are striving to shorten the production lead time associated with production and delivery of these systems,” Doug Bush, the head of service acquisition, said in the press release. “This contract award further illustrates the urgency the US government is applying to the acquisition of systems and replenishing munitions stockpiles.”
In a statement today, the two companies said that to date, they have produced more than 50,000 Javelin missiles and 12,000 reusable Command Launch Units, and have plans to ramp up missile production so that they can produce 3,960 missiles per year by late 2026.
“This contract allows us to continue to evolve with our customers’ needs, while ramping up Javelin production to support the increased international interest for this multi-purpose weapon system,” wrote Dave Pantano, the JJV vice president and Lockheed Martin Javelin program director.
As the service and venture move out on the new contract, the Army is seeking $200 million for 354 Javelin missiles and 187 launchers in FY24, a decrease from the FY23 total for $432 million that the is attributed to supplemental funding to “increase production capacity,” according to FY24 budget justification documents.
Those budget documents also reference the new contract and said the Army “intends to convert any price advantages created through contract negotiations, other services’ procurements, and foreign military sales into increased Army procurement of Javelin missiles and [Lightweight Command Launch Unit] LW CLUs, while investing in the improvement of system safety, reliability, affordability, producibility, and addressing obsolescence.”
Those upgrade plans include the development of a new missile, to be formally designated the FGM-148G, to strike armored vehicles out to 2,500 meters and the new LW CLU.
As of February, development and flight testing of the FGM-148G, also known as the future Javelin G-model, had been paused for months following a test failure last year, and it is not immediately clear if work has been restarted yet.
At that time, though, LW CLU development was pressing on and a Army spokesman told Breaking Defense the service is eying “accelerated production” with the goal of making a production decision around the January-March 2024 timeframe in order to field the new launcher in FY25.
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