Tag: Lockheed

OM in the News: Patriot Missiles and Second Tier Suppliers

The newest Patriot surface-to-air missiles can be fired in seconds, but take more than two years to build and cost around $4 million each.  Despite that math, the U.S. and its allies can’t get enough of them, reports The Wall Street Journal (June 10, 2026).

Pentagon officials just reached an agreement with Lockheed Martin to more than triple production of the latest Patriot, the PAC-3, to 2,000 a year. But the weapons maker isn’t expecting to hit that target until the end of 2030. Why is that?

Lockheed is facing a litany of challenges to hit its target. It counts more than 400 companies that provide parts for its missile. More than 80% are at the second tier—the PAC-3 suppliers’ suppliers. But these firms provide components to more than one missile program. That makes it harder to increase production of one type of missile without disrupting the supply chain for another in-demand weapon.

And some missile circuitry is considered commercially obsolete, forcing the U.S. to rely on expensive equipment from foreign suppliers. The “seeker” in the missile’s nose—a vital part that allows the interceptor to lock onto incoming missiles and aircraft—comes from a single Boeing factory.

Boeing said the company has sped up “seeker” production by adding robotic equipment and finding new suppliers to provide parts like circuit cards. L3Harris plans to boost its rocket-motor production capacity as it brings more manufacturers into its supply chain. “You need the whole ecosystem to line up,” L3Harris’ CEO. “If we quadruple a missile, we’ve got to quadruple the cases. We’ve got to quadruple the igniters, valves, the throttles.”

For decades, the military favored lean supply chains and peacetime efficiency. That approach saved money, but under the pressure of conflict its weakness is revealed. Depending on one qualified source for a key missile component is not the answer. Selective redundancy and second-sources for critical components may be.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. Why are tier 2 suppliers a problem in many supply chains?
  2. Summarize all the issues slowing the production of Patriot missles.

OM in the News: The F-35 Jet Fighter and Supply Chains

The F-35 has contributed to America’s dominance of the arms trade.

The F-35 is a symbol of U.S. military and technological might. With a cost of more than $2 trillion over the program’s life cycle, the F-35 has been called the world’s most expensive weapon, reports The Wall Street Journal (May 6, 2025).

Overall, the jet fighter, made by Lockheed Martin, has more than 1,900 suppliers from about a dozen countries that provide everything from tiny chip boards to the ejector seat. “Like many companies in the industry, our supply chain and customer base are global, and we import raw materials, parts and modules from around the world,” said the CEO of RTX, which makes the fighter’s engines.

The fighter has been a particularly successful export, with more than 1,100 jets sold to 20 countries since it entered service in 2015. The program was partly financed by the U.K., Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada and Denmark, whose companies then won contracts to supply components. (Foreign governments increasingly seek greater involvement in the production of the U.S. equipment they buy).

British companies contribute about 15% of the value of each aircraft. Much of that is made in Britain. BAE Systems produces one of the plane’s fuselages and the pilot’s control stick in the U.K. Rolls-Royce supplies the technology that allows one variant of the F-35 to take off and land vertically. Even the jet’s ejector seat is made in Britain. Australia provides components for the jet’s avionics and propulsion systems. In Denmark, one company alone—Terma— has made 30,000 parts for the program so far, including pods that hold the machine gun.

The U.S. accounted for 43% of global weapons exports in the five years ended 2024. The U.S. accounted for about 3% of imports.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. Will tariffs have a major impact on F-35 sales?
  2. What are the plusses and minuses of such global supply chains?