Lockheed Martin to Develop Modular Pods For Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System

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The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $10.5 million contract to develop a new modular pod for Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rockets. The new pods will replace the depleting inventory of M26 rocket pods and support the increased production of GMLRS rounds.

The modular pod is designed to allow for reloading of individual rocket tubes as they are expended, whereas the original GMLRS pods are discarded after use. The pod will be able to fire the GMLRS Unitary and Alternative Warhead variants, as well as the developmental Extended-Range GMLRS rockets and future rounds.

“The new pods will be compatible with both the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and MLRS M270 family of launchers,” said Gaylia Campbell, vice president of Precision Fires and Combat Maneuver Systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “These new pods will improve reload operations and assure our warfighters have adequate rounds available to them when they are most needed.”

The modular pods will be produced at Lockheed Martin’s Precision Fires Center of Excellence in Camden, Ark. Ground testing will begin this fall, with a planned flight test before the end of the calendar year. The first deliveries of the new modular pod are anticipated in the fall of 2021.

For more than 40 years, Lockheed Martin has been the leading designer and manufacturer of long-range, surface-to-surface precision strike solutions, providing highly reliable, combat-proven systems like MLRS, HIMARS, the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and GMLRS to global customers.

About Lockheed Martin 

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 105,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.