$10.5 Million for Reusable Pods to be Delivered from 2021
The US Army has awarded Lockheed Martin a $10.5 million contract to develop a new modular pod for the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS), the company announced on 15 May.
The new pods will replace the depleting inventory of M26 rocket pods and support the increased production of GMLRS rounds. They will be 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,” observed Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control Vice President of Precision Fires and Combat Maneuver Systems, Gaylia Campbell. “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, AR. 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.
