Javelin ramps up: missile output nearly doubles in 2 years

The Javelin Joint Venture, the Lockheed Martin and Raytheon partnership that builds the Javelin anti-tank missile, says it has nearly doubled its annual production capacity for complete Javelin rounds over the past two years to keep up with demand from the U.S. military and foreign customers.

Lockheed Martin announced the milestone on Oct. 8 but did not give a current production rate or say how many missiles the joint venture now builds each year. The companies said the increase came from ramping output on the existing production line and across Javelin’s supply chain, and from Lockheed Martin investments to speed up long-lead parts and equipment.

“By scaling our Javelin production line to meet increasing global demand, we’re extending Javelin’s legacy of performance excellence for years to come,” said Rich Liccion, vice president of the Javelin Joint Venture and Lockheed Martin’s Javelin program director. “Our increased output ensures that warfighters worldwide continue to rely on an anti-tank missile system that has delivered unmatched precision for over 30 years.”

The joint venture said it will finish building all the test stations critical to the ramp by the end of the year. Those stations check that each missile and its components meet environmental, performance and functional requirements before delivery, and after they are complete the program plans to upgrade 16 more stations that duplicate essential capabilities and replace aging equipment.

The production push is tied to the largest single-year Javelin production contract to date, a follow-on award in May 2025 under an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract first awarded in May 2023. The joint venture has built more than 55,000 Javelin missiles and more than 12,000 reusable command launch units since the weapon entered service.

The Javelin is a shoulder-fired, fire-and-forget missile that locks onto a target before launch and guides itself, letting the gunner take cover immediately after firing. Its effective range runs up to about 4 km (2.5 miles), and it has been used heavily by Ukrainian forces against Russian armor since 2022.

Alongside the missile ramp, the joint venture is increasing production of the Lightweight Command Launch Unit, the new sight and firing unit soldiers use to find targets and launch the missile. The first units were delivered to the U.S. Army in May. The launcher gives twice the target detection and recognition range of the legacy unit while being 30% smaller and 25% lighter, and it works with all current, past and future Javelin variants. Raytheon has invested $22 million to modernize the launcher factory in Tucson, Arizona, where annual production is ramping in coordination with the U.S. Army.

“Delivering the LWCLU into soldiers’ hands underscores our commitment to accelerating meaningful capability upgrades,” said Jenna Hunt Frazier, president of the Javelin Joint Venture and Javelin program director at Raytheon. “Our investment in modernization and production capacity ensures the Army can field this advanced launcher more quickly, giving soldiers better awareness and greater lethality on today’s battlefield.”

Javelin missiles are built by Lockheed Martin in Orlando, Florida, and Raytheon in Tucson.