Lockheed Martin puts $300m into its Texas missile parts plant

Lockheed Martin is spending $300 million to expand its Missiles and Fire Control plant at Grand Prairie, Texas, and will let an outside contract manufacturer run automated machining inside it. On Wednesday 14 October it held a ribbon cutting for an expansion of almost 200,000 sq ft at the site. It also said it plans to create 6,000 jobs across the US, 2,000 of them in Texas, as it scales up munitions output.

The second part of the news matters more to anyone who buys or makes precision parts. Hadrian, the Torrance, California machining company, has signed a seven-year agreement to put its automated cells into Grand Prairie. The first is a 24-machine cell, operated by Lockheed's own production staff and due to be running in early 2027.

What Grand Prairie makes

Grand Prairie machines and builds components for every programme in the Missiles and Fire Control business. Lockheed names PAC-3 MSE, the Patriot interceptor; THAAD; the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM); and JATM, the Joint Advanced Tactical Missile. Hadrian's release adds GMLRS rockets. Parts go on to final-assembly sites at Camden, Arkansas, and Troy, Alabama.

Lockheed says about 800 production employees work at the plant, and that it made 250,000 parts in 2025. The $300 million takes the footprint to more than 735,000 sq ft. That includes 100,000 sq ft of new space and 85,000 sq ft of former offices turned over to production.

Some of the conversion has already happened. Lockheed says it has put more than 30 high-precision machines into former office space in the past few months, and that they are now turning out thousands of components a week. It expects to have added nearly 100 new machines across the site by the end of 2026.

How the Hadrian deal works

The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding in December 2025 for an on-site machining and inspection cell combining CNC machines, robotics and Hadrian's software. Wednesday's agreement turns that into a seven-year contract.

Hadrian says commissioning starts in early 2027, with further cells phased in over the term and each one serving several missile programmes. It brings its Opus software, its automation and its own workforce training into the plant. Lockheed also gets access to Hadrian's wider network, so work can move between Grand Prairie and Hadrian's own factories as demand changes. Hadrian lists four sites covering just under 3 million sq ft: two in Torrance and newer ones in Arizona and Alabama.

Neither company has disclosed the value of the contract or how much extra output the cells will give. Defence-industry.eu noted both gaps, and that no installation schedule has been given beyond the early-2027 start.

Tim Cahill, president of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said in Hadrian's release that the deal combines Lockheed's workforce with "Hadrian's expertise in commercial technology". Hadrian's chief executive, Chris Power, said "the warfighter can't wait on peacetime timelines".

Why a prime is putting a supplier inside its own walls

Primes have traditionally bought machined parts from a tiered supply base or made them on their own machines. Putting a supplier's cell, software and training on the prime's floor, run by the prime's staff, is a different arrangement. It keeps the part on site, which cuts transport, inspection hand-offs and the queue at an outside shop. It can also hand a large share of the process knowledge to the supplier, whose software runs the cell.

Lockheed is pairing this with a contracting change. It says it is using what it calls commercially inspired agreements with the Pentagon on PAC-3 MSE, THAAD, PrSM and JATM. The aim, in Lockheed's words, is more predictability to invest in people, equipment and supply chains. The Grand Prairie money sits inside a wider plan to spend $8–9 billion by 2030 on munitions capacity at more than 20 US sites. Lockheed also points to a recent tie-up with GM Defense to apply car-industry production methods to defence work.

For machine-tool makers, tooling suppliers and the smaller shops that already machine missile parts, the message is mixed. Nearly 100 new machines by the end of 2026 is a large order book for equipment. Some machining that could have gone to outside shops will instead be done on site, on someone else's automated cell.

The 6,000 jobs figure is a national plan. Lockheed has not said over what period it applies, or how many of the roles are at Grand Prairie itself. The firm numbers are $300 million, 735,000 sq ft, a 24-machine cell from early 2027 and nearly 100 new machines by December.

Sources: Lockheed Martin, "Lockheed Martin Expands Advanced Munitions Manufacturing in Texas, Driving Thousands of New American Jobs", PR Newswire, 14 October 2026; Hadrian, "Hadrian Expands Partnership with Lockheed Martin to Scale Production of Critical Missile Systems", PR Newswire, 14 October 2026; defence-industry.eu, "Lockheed Martin partners with Hadrian to expand missile manufacturing capacity", 14 October 2026; Defense Daily, "Hadrian, Lockheed Martin Formalize Agreement For Automated Manufacturing Of Missile Parts", 14 October 2026; DefSec Wire, "Lockheed Martin expands advanced munitions production in Texas, adding thousands of US jobs", 14 October 2026.