IDEX: Lockheed Martin exec wants easier second sourcing approvals

It is also showing a need to make it easier to bring on board new suppliers, said Tim Cahill, the head of Lockheed Martin missiles and fire control.

“I need additional supply chains. I need additional manufacturing sites,” Cahill said at the International Defence Conference yesterday.

Lockheed Martin is in the process of ramping up production of both tactical missiles and air and missile defence interceptors as the Pentagon and customers abroad look to replenish inventories and augment supplies. For instance, in October the Pentagon awarded the company a contract to supply 650 Patriot PAC-3 missiles annually from 550.

“My particular division built 30,000 end-product articles for delivery, not assemblies, but missiles and sensors and those type of things last year. And that's a lot of things to build so we need to be able to build those in other places on Earth,” he said.

One of the challenges in the past has been getting new suppliers approved for production, he said, saying it simply takes too long. “What's going to have to happen is a relaxation of some of the standards that I think it takes to actually qualify a second source,” he said.

Cahill signalled the Trump administration’s indication it is ready to shake up the way things have been done as an opportunity, with industry having to now put forward ideas on what changes could be beneficial. Change likely will also have to involve Congress and stakeholders abroad, he said.

“I think everyone across the planet now realises that if we don't do something different in the supply chain, and if we don't do it collectively, collaboratively… we're not going to get to where we need to be,” he added.

Lockheed Martin is taking other steps to harden its supply chain, he said, including looking into bulk titanium purchasing. Access and the price of titanium has become more challenging since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has disrupted supply.

“I'm going to buy titanium for my entire supply chain,” he said. The bulk purchasing should allow the company to secure not just supply, but also at better prices.