GM Defense and Lockheed Martin have signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen U.S. domestic defense manufacturing and the defense industrial base. The agreement follows President Donald Trump’s invocation of the Defense Production Act’s voluntary provisions on June 11, 2026. Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Cadenazzi, who assumed office in September 2025, is advancing voluntary agreements to address supply chain 'nasty issues.' CEOs of BAE Systems, Boeing, Honeywell Aerospace, L3Harris Missile Solutions, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon pledged to quadruple production of 'Exquisite Class' weaponry like the Precision Strike Missile. GM has participated in defense manufacturing since World War I, launched its first defense unit in November 1959, sold it to General Dynamics in 2003, and reestablished GM Defense in 2017.
General Motors’ defense subsidiary and weapons maker Lockheed Martin have signed a memorandum of understanding to build up domestic manufacturing and the defense industrial base, joint press release on Tuesday.
Dive Brief
Under the agreement, the two companies will combine Lockheed Martin’s defense production expertise with GM Defense’s advanced industrial capabilities in higher production rates in commercial manufacturing and engineering.
The two companies did not disclose their plans, but GM Defense President Steve duMont said they will identify initial projects to pursue over the coming weeks.
Dive Insight
GM and Lockheed’s collaboration reflects the growing demand for increased production capacity, supply chain and manufacturing adaptability across the defense sector, press release.
Furthermore, GM and Lockheed will assess ways to accelerate production capacity while maintaining the required quality and performance standards.
“America’s security depends not only on developing advanced technologies, but on our ability to produce them quickly, reliably and at scale,” Lockheed COO Frank St. John said in a statement.
The Department of Defense assisted with the deal, press release. The agreement also comes as President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act’s voluntary provisions on June 11, allowing the federal government to work with companies “to help provide for the national defense.”
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy Michael Cadenazzi has been aiming to launch voluntary agreements since he came into office in September 2025, he said during a Center for a New American Security event on Tuesday. Voluntary agreements are a way for the DOD to communicate with the industry using a “specific set of authorities.”
For example, the DOD can communicate its problems to a company around “nasty issues” in its supply chain or industrial base,” Michael Cadenazzi said. The voluntary agreement would allow them to work together in an open and competitive “market sense.”
“Sometimes we need the collective wisdom of all the assembled companies to collaborate and solve our problems for us, or we want them to at least provide us their best advice from the industrial side,” Michael Cadenazzi said. “And then we can consider what it might mean for us.”
More voluntary agreements are expected, he added.
The White House and the Pentagon have taken steps to revamp the defense industrial base since Trump returned to office.
Those actions include executive orders, meeting with the CEOs of major defense players BAE Systems, Boeing, Honeywell Aerospace, L3Harris Missile Solutions, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon. The company heads all agreed to quadruple production of “Exquisite Class” weaponry, such as the Precision Strike Missile. Since then, the Pentagon has been signing contracts with companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and L3Harris Technologies.
The increased demand for weapons has also prompted Trump to ask GM, the Ford Motor Co. and other automotive makers to participate in munitions production, the Wall Street Journal reported in April.
GM has been involved with the defense industry since World War I, pivoting its manufacturing facilities to produce thousands of vehicles, engines, aircraft and ammunition to support U.S. war efforts, subsidiary’s website. The automaker established its first defense business in November 1959. GM later sold the subsidiary to General Dynamics in 2003, only for the automaker to reestablish the defense business in 2017.
Source: manufacturingdive.com
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
