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How the war in Ukraine is driving growth in Arkansas – By Jen Judson (Defense News) / Mar 24 2023
CAMDEN, Ark. — In downtown Camden, in south-central Arkansas, a large number of storefronts sit dark and empty, offering little insight into what once thrived there. On one block, only a florist and an artisanal soap shop were open on a recent Monday.
“This building is not empty, it’s full of opportunity,” a sign on another block’s storefront read.
But 10 minutes away, the Highland Industrial Park was bustling and its parking lot full as some of the nation’s largest defense contractors — Lockheed Martin, Aerojet Rocketdyne and General Dynamics — manufactured solid-rocket motors, missiles, launchers and other weapons systems that proved critical to the U.S. military and are now front and center in Ukraine.
Camden has long depended on the defense industry. For example, since 1980 Lockheed Martin has locally built its M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System — a tracked rocket launcher that can carry a dozen rockets or missiles. A mural featuring the system covers the entire back of a building in downtown.
