Defense giant Lockheed Martin expanded its cruise missile manufacturing plant in Troy, Ala., opening an annex that adds capacity for producing the weapon systems, to supply U.S. and international market demands. The company did not reveal the plant’s current missile capacity nor its future production volume.
Lockheed indicated it has invested $16.8 million to build the 64,500-sq.ft. annex, and an unspecified larger amount to furnish and equip it.
Cruise missiles are guided weapon systems used against terrestrial targets, designed to deliver a large warhead over a long distance with very high accuracy. Lockheed’s Troy plant has over 370 employees currently, nearly half of whom are involved in assembling the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM and JASSM-ER) and Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASM) manufactured there.
“So far in 2015, we have hired over 75 employees to fill high-tech positions at our Pike County facility, 20 of whom support cruise missile final assembly,” noted Lockheed’s site director David Anderson. “This growth is a result of new business our state partners helped us bring to Alabama.”
