Lockheed Martin CEO James Taiclet said on Sunday that the company is looking to nearly double the production of Javelin missiles, an anti-tank weapon that has proven itself in Ukraine.
Taiclet added in an interview with CBS News that the goal is to increase production to four thousand missiles annually from 2100 annually.
He said the increase would take two years. Javelin is manufactured jointly by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies.
The Javelin missile contributed to Ukraine’s defense against the Russian army, to the extent that the Ukrainians painted it as a religious icon and described it as the “protector of Ukraine.”
Dubbed the “Tank Hunter and the Nightmare of the Tanks,” the missile won American and European acclaim because it played a key role in preventing Russia from achieving a quick victory in the early days of the Ukrainian war, according to military experts.
Since last December, the United States has sent about 5,000 Javelin missiles to Kyiv out of 5,500 missiles the White House has pledged, according to Bloomberg.
During his visit to the Lockheed Martin factory last week, US President Joe Biden said that those missiles enabled the Ukrainian army to make a real difference against the Russian army.
However, members of the US Congress, such as Republican Senator Roy Blunt, expressed concern about Washington sending about 25% of its stockpile of “Javelin” and “Stinger” anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine.
Washington has allocated more than $5 billion to replenish its military stockpile, but restoring it to its full capacity may take years, according to US officials.