July 16 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin will build additional HIMARS rocket launchers for the U.S. Army and Marines in a $160.5 million contract announced this week by the Pentagon.
The contract modification includes production of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems M142 launchers for Taiwan under the Foreign Military Sales program, although as Defense Department statement did not mention the number of systems to be produced.
Lockheed Martin's Missile and Fire Control division, headquartered at Grand Prarie, Texas, is responsible for manufacturing the system, a multiple rocket launcher mounted on a standard Army M1140 five-ton truck frame.
Typically firing a pod of six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System missiles, it also can fire weapons including the Army Tactical Missile System and the Precision Strike Missile.
The complete vehicle, which employs a three-person crew, can be transported in a C-130 cargo plane, and has seen action in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. Over 400 have been built, for U.S. forces and for those of Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Singapore.
The contract announced this week will be completed by April 2023 and includes support requirements linked to the systems.