While that represents a 40% increase over previous annual output, the figure remains far below the actual demand driven by battlefield consumption and the growing number of HIMARS operators, Defense Express reports.According to Paula Hartley, Lockheed Martin’s Vice President for Tactical Missiles, the company now produces roughly 1,166 GMLRS rockets per month — or about 38 per day. That’s just over six full salvos for a single HIMARS launcher.Hartley shared the production numbers during a press conference at the LANDEURO defense exhibition in Wiesbaden, Germany, as reported by Hartpunkt. As Defense Express points out, this new production pace aligns with Lockheed Martin’s updated 2024 targets — revised from original plans to reach that same level a year earlier. In 2023, the company produced 10,000 GMLRS rockets annually.Despite the increase, production still lags behind the rate of battlefield use. Ukraine’s Armed Forces operate up to 38 HIMARS and 16 M270 systems, which together could launch as many as 420 rockets in a single full salvo. That single potential day’s usage already exceeds Lockheed Martin’s entire daily output.To help meet soaring demand, the American defense giant is now exploring options to localize GMLRS production in Europe. Lockheed Martin is reportedly in talks with Germany’s Rheinmetall, which could take on component manufacturing — such as solid-fuel rocket motors — or even full missile assembly.The partnership might not stop with just GMLRS. Lockheed Martin is also scaling up production of the extended-range GMLRS-ER (with a range of up to 150 km) and the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), which in its first iteration can reach targets up to 500 km away.Lockheed Martin is betting on Rheinmetall as part of its joint push to promote the GMARS launcher — a European variant of HIMARS with two missile pods mounted on Rheinmetall’s HX chassis.  While GMARS is designed to integrate GMLRS, GMLRS-ER, PrSM, and potentially the AGM-158 JASSM cruise missile, the system has yet to find any buyers — including Germany, which instead opted for Israel’s PULS system.Still, Hartley confirmed that Lockheed Martin is currently in negotiations with five potential GMARS customers, though she did not name the countries.Ukraine is already manufacturing its own versions of the American HIMARS system, along with long-range missiles capable of striking targets over 600 kilometers away.