Northrop Grumman is looking to scale up its production and delivery of advanced strike missiles with the opening of its new Missile Integration Facility in West Virginia.
The facility, part of the company’s Allegany Ballistics Laboratory at Rocket Center, will combine production, assembly, testing, and shipping using advanced digital manufacturing to enable Northrop Grumman to produce 300 strike missiles a year.
Doing so, the company said, can reduce logistical risks, shorten delivery timelines, and improve quality control.
The latest addition is part of Nothrop’s investment of at least $1 billion in advanced manufacturing facilities since 2018, “that ensures we’ve got capacity needed to meet growing customer demand and support a resilient defense industrial base now and in the future,” Vice President and General Manager Frank DeMauro said.
Addressing Demand for Advanced Weapons
Scaling production can fill in the gap as the defense industry experiences a surge in demand for advanced weapons. Northrop said the expansion can increase the output of critical capabilities to replenish stockpiles that support the US and its allies.
The new facility also highlights an ongoing shift toward greater industrial resilience in the defense sector. Experts have previously warned that fragmented supply chains and outdated infrastructure make it difficult to sustain production at scale, particularly for propulsion systems, energetics, and precision guidance components.
The US Army and General Dynamics in April 2025 opened a load-assemble-pack plant in Camden, Arkansas, that is expected to produce at least 50,000 155mm high-explosive shells a month.
“Expanding our capacity to produce the world’s most advanced munitions is vital to ensuring that our men and women in uniform have the tools they need to deter aggression or prevail in a future conflict,” Senator Shelley Moore Capito said.
