The new Australian missile and rocket facility began operations in December 2025. (Lockheed Martin Australia)

Production of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rockets and launch pod containers has commenced in Australia, representing the first time that GMLRS will be assembled outside the USA.

The new facility, owned by the Department of Defence and officially inaugurated on 5 December, is located in Port Wakefield, approximately 100km from Adelaide in South Australia. Designed and built by Intract Australia, the factory was completed in less than seven months.

As Defence Minister Richard Marles commented, “Starting missile production in Australia this year is a major step in building the industrial strength our nation needs. It’s about creating advanced manufacturing capability that will serve Australia for decades to come.”

GMLRS, a 70+km-range rocket fired by the M142 HIMARS, was selected as the first munition to be produced at the Port Wakefield Missile Assembly Facility. This factory was built as a risk reduction activity under Australia’s Guided Weapons and Explosives Ordnance (GWEO) Plan.

Paula Hartley, Vice President of Tactical Missiles, Lockheed Martin, remarked, “The completion of this state-of-the-art facility marks a key milestone for the Australian government’s GWEO Enterprise. By establishing domestic production of GMLRS, we’re strengthening sovereign capability, ensuring full compatibility with US inventories.”

James Heading, Director and General Manager of Missiles and Fire Control, Lockheed Martin Australia, added too, “We’re committed to establishing a viable and sustainable guided weapons manufacturing industry in Australia. The long-term goal for Lockheed Martin Australia is to establish a robust, versatile and resilient supply chain where we’re self-sufficient and can rely upon Australian industry to deliver what’s needed in support of the GWEO Plan.”

So far, the company has awarded subcontracts relating to guided-weapons manufacturing to AW Bell, Marand, Moog Australia and Thales Australia. A tranche of Lockheed Martin Australia engineers underwent training in the USA over the past year, before returning to help fit-out the new Port Wakefield site.

Australia formally established GWEO in May 2023, and it is pursuing three lines of effort – long-range strike, uplift of stockpiles and domestic munitions manufacture.

In many ways, GMLRS is GWEO’s poster child, since they are the first guided weapons to be manufactured in Australia. However, initially the facility is only assembling GMLRS kit components, with fuller production integrating selected domestic components to occur from 2029.

GMLRS rockets for HIMARS are the first munition being assembled at the Port Wakefield facility. (Lockheed Martin Australia)

The Australian GWEO Plan, issued in September 2024, stated, “Without a domestic GWEO manufacturing capability, Australia will remain highly vulnerable to delays or disruptions to foreign supply chains over the long term, especially in key long-range guided weapons.” This would occur in any conflict with China, where air and maritime routes can be interdicted, for instance.

An Australian-US government agreement inked in March 2024 forged a pathway to support production of up to 4,000 GMLRS rockets annually. This is more than ten times what Australia needs, but as the GWEO Plan indicates, “This will enable Australia to be a major player in the global GMLRS supply chain, opening up opportunities for Australian industry to manufacture components, subsystems and all-up rounds for domestic and global supply chains.”

GMLRS is really just a precursor towards longer-range weapons, with the 150km-range ER GMLRS, Precision Strike Missiles and hypersonic weapons being lined up for future production in Australia.

Heading confirmed to Asian Military Review: “The contract to commence GMLRS manufacturing will provide a mechanism for swift knowledge and technology transfer, and serve as a risk mitigator and pathfinder to future manufacture in Australia of the Lockheed Martin suite of guided weapons. The initial focus of GWEO is on tactical missiles and long-range strike capabilities, but our vision for GWEO encompasses future capabilities like hypersonic systems.”

Heading said Australia is very competitive and believes, within a 3-5-year horizon, that “we should be achieving price parity, if not better, in the Australian market” compared to US production.

by Gordon Arthur