car manufacturer general motors Announced new partnership with defense company on Tuesday lockheed martin Expand manufacturing and expand production capacity.
The deal was facilitated by the U.S. Department of Defense and will focus on munitions and other items, said Bruce Brown, vice president of strategy for GM Defense.
“What makes this moment especially important is that this country needs more than great technology. We also need the ability to reliably build, scale and deliver,” Brown said on a call with reporters. “This is where GM can help. Across the company, we bring advanced engineering, digital development, supply chain discipline, and deep experience in large-scale manufacturing.”
Lockheed Chief Operating Officer Frank St. John said it was too early to say what projects the company would invest in with GM Defense.
Executives from both companies said in a conference call that the partnership will enable further growth as the country ramps up production of defense components.
“Together, we look forward to exploring opportunities across three key areas: improving production readiness and scalable manufacturing environments, identifying ways to strengthen and increase supply chain resiliency, and applying advanced manufacturing and design approaches that help improve efficiency and accelerate delivery,” said St. John.
Lockheed Martin will invest $9 billion through 2030 to modernize 20 facilities and supply bases, St. John added. According to Brown, GM announced it would spend $7 billion on research and development in the United States.
Executives said the partnership will focus on large-scale “high-speed manufacturing” and capacity expansion. They added that the partnership is still in its early stages and needs further clarity on what potential future agreements will be. They are working on a memorandum of understanding.
The automaker produced tanks for the country during World War II. The company’s GM Defense division is one of the company’s newer but rapidly growing business segments and was re-established in 2017 with customers including the U.S. Army, secret intelligence agencies and NASA.
“America is stronger when two companies with deep manufacturing roots work together to help expand the speed, scale and resiliency of our defense industrial base, which is why Lockheed Martin and GM announced this partnership,” Brown said on a conference call.
The partnership comes amid President Donald Trump’s push to bring U.S. manufacturing domestically and re-locate. The United States has also seen its defense stockpile decrease due to the wars in Ukraine and Iran.
The White House has consulted with the following countries: ford And GM talked about better supporting the country’s defense industry.
—CNBC’s Michael Wayland contributed to this report.
