Changes in US stocks | General Motors (GM.US) rose more than 3% and returned to the missile supply chain after a lapse of nearly 29 years

The Zhitong Finance App learned that General Motors (GM.US) rose more than 3% to $87.48 on Thursday. According to the news, Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the “Patriot” system interceptor, announced today that GM has successfully delivered the first batch of “Patriot” interceptor bomb components. The statement specifically emphasized that GM completed the delivery of the first batch of PAC-3 MSE interceptor shell components only 22 days after the formal signing of the contract, and “in the past, this batch of parts usually took months or even years to complete production.”

This is not GM's first foray into missile manufacturing. The company acquired Hughes Aircraft in 1985, and used the latter to produce multi-guided missiles until 1997 when it sold related defense businesses to Thor. This delivery means GM re-entering the missile manufacturing supply chain after a lapse of nearly 29 years.

GM is working hard to grow its defense business. Although this business is small, it is growing well. GM re-established its defense subsidiary GM Defense in 2017 to focus on military vehicles and power propulsion. The US Army announced in 2020 that it would purchase ISV infantry team vehicles based on Chevrolet pickups for US$214.3 million. Since then, GM Defense has begun to produce ISV derivatives, as well as heavy armored SUVs. The company's CEO, Marie Barra, anticipated this summer that the business's revenue would reach 700 million US dollars this year, and profit margins would also be in double digits.

Earlier, it was reported that in addition to Lockheed Martin, GM had also negotiated similar cooperation with Raytheon Technology and L3Harris. The former produces the “Patriot” GEM-T, “Tomahawk”, AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missiles, etc., while the latter is a solid rocket engine supplier for weapons such as the PAC-3 MSE.