Engineering a better future for Australia

In 2024, four Lockheed Martin engineers were thrilled as they prepared to meet Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Pat Conroy MP in the halls of Parliament House, ready for a productive discussion and a memorable photo opportunity.

The engineers—Richard, Macario, Rhys, and Ali—had recently joined Lockheed Martin’s Guided Weapons Production Capability (GWPC) program and were about to embark on a journey that would take them from their Australian homes to Camden, Arkansas, and the South Australian outback, where they would become the first Australians to manufacture the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) for the Australian Army.

In December 2023, Lockheed Martin Australia was awarded the GWPC Risk Reduction Activity contract to take the first steps with Defence on the pathway to building a credible domestic manufacturing capability in Australia by 2025. A year before work began on the Port Wakefield, SA facility, the new engineers travelled to the United States (U.S.) to begin specialised training at Lockheed Martin’s state-of-the-art guided weapon production facilities.  

Macario is a Quality Engineer from Newcastle whose father had also worked with Lockheed Martin for 15 years, “Being one of the first Australian engineers on the guided weapons production capability program is a truly unique opportunity. Undergoing training and working in the U.S. has given us the confidence to produce Australia's first guided rockets—I'm excited to deliver this new capability to the customer.”

The U.S. training commenced with tours of the GMLRS production line at the Camden Operations facility in Arkansas. Lockheed Martin’s Camden Operations facility is a manufacturing, final assembly, test and storage operation established in 1979—more than 700,000 missiles and rockets of various types and sizes have been produced at the Camden Operations.

Hailing from Adelaide, Sydney, and Newcastle, the Australian engineers would call Camden home – off and on – for the next twelve months of training alongside their U.S. colleagues.  

“We spent a lot of time with the operators and engineers on the Camden production line asking for tips, lessons learned and modifications they'd implemented to gain efficiencies,” said Richard, a Manufacturing Engineer from Adelaide. “This knowledge transfer was essential and paid dividends during the first assembly in Australia—many times we referred back to the lessons learned in Camden and put them into practice.”

Much of the specialised training was a new experience for the Australian engineers. “Our first exposure to the manufacturing process was tooling training at the Grand Prairie site in Texas,” Richard said. “The training was led by U.S. engineers with years of industry experience. They taught us how to use pneumatic tools, tighten torque fasteners, and apply sealants correctly.”

“Working with U.S. engineers opened a window into the long history of products built there, and learning from their experience and bringing that knowledge back to Australia was truly exciting,” Richard said.

The Australian engineers participated in the initial prove-out of machinery at two of the major automated equipment suppliers in Missouri and Arkansas. They witnessed the prove-out of the machines and were able to make minor modifications ensuring adherence to Australian standards. This was the first time the engineers operated the equipment that would eventually be shipped from the U.S. and delivered to the new Port Wakefield facility in Australia.

After the completion of their U.S. training in October 2025, Richard, Macario, Rhys, and Ali—now affectionately known as the ‘Fab Four’—returned to Australia to join their Australian and U.S. colleagues to commence fit-out and installation of equipment at the new Port Wakefield Missile Assembly Facility in South Australia.  

Within months of commencing operations at the Port Wakefield facility, the Lockheed Martin team delivered the first GMLRS Rocket Pod Containers (RPCs) assembled outside the U.S.  The two RPCs loaded with twelve GMLRS munitions were delivered to the Australian Army for a live fire demonstration at Woomera in April 2026.

These achievements were a historic milestone for Lockheed Martin and a significant outcome for the Australian Government’s commitment to establish a sovereign guided-weapons industry in Australia.

After the success of the Australian Army’s GMLRS live fire in April, the engineers returned to the U.S. for more training and tooling re-certification.

“Returning to the manufacturing facility in Camden was a massive value add for the team. We were able to discuss GMLRS production difficulties and ‘pain points’ with the Camden engineers and take their advice back to Port Wakefield, saving us significant schedule time and preventing any surprises during the next round of builds,” Macario explained.

The return trip to the U.S. also included the newest member of the team, Trinity, an Adelaide-based engineer and technician who recently completed her first round of training and certification at the Camden facility.

“The training in the US was incredibly insightful. Seeing the scale of their operations and the efficiency of their processes was eye‑opening. It was valuable to observe how they work and identify ideas that can be applied here in Australia,” Trinity said.

Training in the U.S. gave Trinity the opportunity to gain hands‑on experience working on GMLRS Launch Pod Containers and operational equipment. “Since returning from the U.S., I’ve had the opportunity to put my training into practice by assembling a spinning tail and installing it onto an inert rocket,” Trinity said.

“There was a lot of information to absorb, and I’m eager to apply what I learned as we continue building capability in Australia. I’m excited to be on the team and looking forward to being part of the next stage of GMLRS development and production.”

Lockheed Martin Australia has made significant strides toward establishing a sovereign guided‑weapons production capability under the GWPC Program. The achievements of the past 12 months represent critical progress in building a world‑class guided‑weapons manufacturing capability, and engineers like Richard, Macario, Rhys, and Ali have all played an important part in this success to date.

With new members such as Trinity and other engineers and technicians joining the team in the coming months, we look forward to their contributions to Australia’s weapons production capabilities and the ongoing growth and success of Lockheed Martin Australia.