_____________________________________________________________________________________ American
Rheinmetall
We ’ re joined by Matthew Warnick , CEO , and Jason Atkinson , COO and former CEO of Loc , to learn more about the business and the recent acquisition . “ I was the first employee at American Rheinmetall , which was created to leverage opportunities for ground combat vehicles and tactical wheel vehicles , with most of our efforts focused on the development of the Lynx XM30 Combat Vehicle ,” Matthew begins . “ Over time , we built a core team and started investing in both products and technologies , later winning our first contract for the US Army ’ s XM30 program . We ’ ve seen tremendous growth , going from 20-to-30 employees to around 300 , and then with the recent acquisition of Loc to around 1400 .”
Elaborating on Loc ’ s history , Jason adds : “ Loc was established in Plymouth , Michigan , in 1971 , but really penetrated the defense market throughout the 1990s . We ’ ve been manufacturing products for pretty much every ground combat vehicle since then and we ‘ cut our teeth ’ in suspension and driveline .
Loc had been growing organically for several years but also acquired a large fabrication shop in 2017 and later acquired another company in 2019 to bolster our long-range capabilities with high precision machining and long-range missile systems .
“ Fast forward to 2024 when we were working with American Rheinmetall on its Lynx XM30 concept design platform , and we sparked conversations that ultimately led to American Rheinmetall acquiring Loc to add manufacturing capabilities – and more – to its already proven platforms . Today , we organize the integrated business across three main segments : prime work encompasses our direct work for the US Government , Tier 1 refers to the sub-assemblies and structures primarily from the legacy Loc business , and commercial focuses on products for the agricultural and industrial markets .
“ One thing that stood out to me throughout the acquisition process was the company ’ s approach and willingness to invest in research
manufacturing-today . com 91