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Australia Launches Domestic Production of GMLRS Precision Rockets for HIMARS M142 Launchers.
Australia has opened its Port Wakefield Missile Assembly Facility to begin producing Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System rounds for its Army HIMARS launchers. The move strengthens national supply chains and positions Australia for future missile exports in the Indo-Pacific.
On 5 December 2025, Australia formally entered the ranks of missile-producing nations with the start of operations at a new Missile Assembly Facility in Port Wakefield, South Australia, as reported by the Australian Department of Defence and Lockheed Martin Australia. The site will manufacture Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) munitions for the Army’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), transforming long-planned investments in long-range fires into a tangible sovereign capability. In a context of rising demand for precision munitions and growing strategic uncertainty in the Indo-Pacific, this move goes far beyond the opening of a new factory line. It is intended to harden national supply chains, deepen defence industrial cooperation with the United States and lay the groundwork for future exports to partners.
Australia’s launch of GMLRS missile production at Port Wakefield underscores that domestic advanced munitions manufacturing is now as strategic as their acquisition (Picture Source: Lockheed Martin / U.S. Army)
The Port Wakefield Missile Assembly Facility will initially concentrate on producing GMLRS All Up Rounds and launch pod containers, mirroring the configurations currently supplied from US production lines. GMLRS is a GPS-guided rocket with a range exceeding 70 kilometres, providing the Australian Army’s HIMARS launchers with the ability to strike command posts, logistics hubs and air defence positions from well behind the forward edge of the battlefield. Local media have underlined that South Australia will host what is described as the only facility outside the United States capable of manufacturing some of America’s most advanced guided missile technology, underscoring the state’s emerging role as a strategic industrial hub.
This precision strike capability sits at the heart of the long-range fires transformation outlined in the National Defence Strategy, supporting both classic surface-to-surface missions and emerging concepts such as land-based maritime strike enabled by the common launcher architecture. The system has already been demonstrated in Australian conditions during exercises such as Talisman Sabre 2025, where HIMARS conducted live-fire events with GMLRS and complementary long-range missiles, underscoring the operational relevance of having local access to these munitions.
Industrial delivery of the Port Wakefield facility has been deliberately structured as a pathfinder for a broader Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Enterprise. The Defence-owned site was built and fitted out in record time as part of the Guided Weapons Production Capability Risk Reduction Activity, validating processes, tooling and safety measures before Australia moves to higher production rates.
Indigenous-owned firm Intract Australia led construction, working alongside partners such as Aurecon and Defence’s Security Estate Group, while Lockheed Martin Australia is responsible for standing up the assembly line and integrating it into global supply chains. Initially, around 20 specialised roles will be created on site, supporting hundreds of jobs across the national supply chain and fitting within the Albanese Government’s plan to invest up to A$21 billion over the decade in long-range strike systems and domestic munitions manufacturing.
Knowledge and technology transfer are central to the model chosen for Port Wakefield. Over the past year, a team of Australian engineers has undergone intensive training at Lockheed Martin’s missile production facilities in the United States, learning the detailed assembly, testing and quality-assurance processes required for GMLRS manufacture. Those engineers then returned to work with US and Australian colleagues on the final fit-out of the new facility, which will assemble the first tranche of locally produced GMLRS all up rounds and launch pod containers – a first outside the United States. Lockheed Martin executives have framed this as a long-term commitment to keep Australian talent at the forefront of missile engineering and to use the Risk Reduction Activity as a bridge towards manufacturing additional guided weapons from the company’s portfolio on Australian soil.
Strategically, the opening of Port Wakefield is being presented as both a sovereignty project and an alliance project. Australia’s new facility becomes only the second in the world able to manufacture GMLRS outside the United States, ensuring that locally assembled rockets remain fully compatible with US inventories and can be pooled during combined operations or major exercises.
At the same time, Lockheed Martin Australia is building an increasingly dense local supply chain, with contracts already awarded to companies such as Thales Australia, Marand, AW Bell and Moog Australia to deliver components and services. This industrial architecture is designed to be robust and versatile enough to support not only GMLRS but future families of guided weapons, aligning with Canberra’s decision to expand its HIMARS fleet and its wider ambition to field credible, sustainable long-range strike capabilities across the land domain.
By launching GMLRS missile production at Port Wakefield, Australia is signalling that the capacity to manufacture advanced munitions at home is now considered as critical as the decision to acquire them. The new facility crystallises the GWEO Plan’s ambition to fuse sovereign industry, alliance cooperation and advanced technology into a single, resilient enterprise capable of weathering supply shocks and supporting partners across the Indo-Pacific. For allies and potential adversaries alike, the message is clear: Australia intends to evolve from being a customer of long-range strike systems to becoming a long-term producer and provider within the wider regional security architecture.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.