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James Taiclet

Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Lockheed Martin

Search every verified James Taiclet interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. James Taiclet, chairman, president, and CEO of Lockheed Martin, has recently discussed the company's efforts to expand missile production and shift its business model. During an October 2026 visit to Lockheed Martin's Grand Prairie, Texas facility, Taiclet detailed plans to triple production of Patriot PAC-3 missiles and quadruple output of THAD interceptors, part of an over $8 billion company investment. He stated that defense demand is "not fleeting" but "permanent," and described a goal of increasing Patriot missile production from 600 to over 2,000 per year. Taiclet also highlighted partnerships with companies like Hadrian to incorporate automation and robotics into manufacturing, and noted plans to add 6,000 workers. Taiclet has also articulated a vision for Lockheed Martin to transition from being the world's largest defense contractor to the world's leading defense technology company. In interviews, he criticized the traditional Pentagon procurement process, which he said involved lengthy, requirements-driven contracts, and praised current Pentagon leadership for removing what he called a "straight jacket" on industry. He emphasized the need to match the cost of solutions to the cost of threats, citing the example of expensive Patriot missiles used against cheaper drones. Taiclet also discussed the company's Vectis model, a pilotless air vehicle unveiled at a Washington, D.C. aerospace show, which he described as a key initiative for deterrence.

Recent appearances

Notable quotes

“So we are tripling or quadrupling the production rate of these kinds of defensive and sometimes strike missiles. Right. That is not easy to do as one company. And that's why we need a lot of American industry to partner with us. But we have a plan, a joint plan to get from, for example, 600 Patriot missiles a year, which is the typical sort of run rate to 2000 plus eventually over a reasonable amount of time. So we'r”

“I think what investors need to know and understand that this demand is not fleeting. It's permanent. There's a way I discuss this with my team again and our investors, which is we're trying to solve kind of a master engineering equation here. And the equation is how do we maintain effective deterrence in the world that we live in today. So we have an escalating threat. We have technology moving faster, digitally and ”

“I would hone in on our Vectis model. There's a number of initiatives that I think would qualify for this question. But if we just unveiled the full size vector model at the Aerospace Show here in Washington, DC, it's literally a couple of days ago. And if we can get this right, and there are other competitors that are going to come to the fore, it is a essentially pilotless air vehicle with the three things that are ”

“One of the key learnings was that we need to match the cost of the solution to the cost of the threat. And it's well known, of course, that there are $4 million Patriot missiles used to shoot down maybe a $50,000 drone. Now, that's a bad exchange ratio. But the other exchange ratio we have to consider here is with what we have today in the stockpiles. What is the trade off between letting that missile hit a drone hit”

“Typically, the U.S. government would set requirements, the armed services would set requirements and say, I want a new plane that goes this speed at this altitude, can carry this much equipment and weapons, whatever, and here is a 500 page set of requirements that we have a divide that we want you to designed to. Two or three of us would get requests for information. Can you do this? What are these requirements going”

“We are in the midst of a $6 billion internal transformation of our entire production system to digitize it. We call it a digital thread all the way from concept to what we call sustainment.”

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