WASHINGTON — L3Harris has reached a framework agreement with the Pentagon to ramp up solid rocket motor production for PAC-3 missiles and THAAD interceptors over the next seven years, the department announced today.
The two agreements with L3Harris come as the Pentagon aims to boost weapons production following the war in Ukraine and as operations in Iran have prompted questions about US munitions levels. The deals are the first to center around the critical technology of solid rocket motors, which has long been a chokepoint for missile production as a result of its fractured, fragile industrial base.
Under the PAC-3 agreement, L3Harris “will accelerate the production of its advanced two-pulse solid rocket motor, Attitude Control Motors, and the Lethality Enhancer,” the Defense Department said in a release. The “Lethality Enhancer” is an explosive device that increases PAC-3’s kill radius, L3Harris said.
For the THAAD deal, L3Harris agreed to boost production of the solid rocket boost motor that launches the interceptor, as well as the Liquid Divert and Attitude Control System, which maneuvers the missile in flight.
The Defense Department and L3Harris did not lay out specific numbers for the growth of each solid rocket motor, but L3Harris stated in its release that the company will “nearly triple production” for certain products related to the PAC-3 missile and quadruple production for the THAAD components.
Both contracts — and likely high-dollar price tags — are expected to be definitized later this year, the company said.
Ken Bedingfield, the president of L3Harris’s missile solutions business, said the company is already preparing its facilities and supply chain to meet the ramp up.
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“This critical, long-term agreement will allow us to continue to move at unprecedented speed and produce PAC-3 propulsion at rates never before seen,” he said.
Michael Duffey, the Pentagon’s acquisition czar, called the agreement with L3Harris “a decisive win for the warfighter” that “underscore[es] our commitment to sending clear demand signals to the entire supply chain.”
During an interview with Breaking Defense last week on the sidelines of the Farnborough Airshow, Michael Cadenazzi, the assistant secretary of defense for industrial base policy, said L3Harris had made “phenomenal” progress in improving solid rocket motor production rates since it bought legacy producer Aerojet Rocketdyne in 2023. At the time of the acquisition, Aerojet Rocketdyne faced significant delays on solid rocket motor deliveries.
“They’re investing money into our programs. We’re working with them directly every day at the factory floor, out in Camden, [Ark.], and elsewhere to make sure that production rates are growing in line with what we need for the future,” Cadenazzi said.
He added that the department also plans investing “several hundred million more” dollars in solid rocket motors by the end of the fiscal year, mostly through the department’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program.
“I think it reflects the importance of rocket motors and the reality that we need more resilience in this space, not just from depth of capacity at our core providers and the current munitions, but also developing second sources and the supply chain underneath them,” he said.
The L3Harris agreements follow previous deals with Lockheed Martin to scale up production of PAC-3 and THAAD missiles, as well as agreements with Boeing and Honeywell to boost production for the PAC-3 seeker and other components.
Beyond PAC-3 and THAAD, the department has also inked production deals for munitions like the Tomahawk cruise missile and AMRAAM air-to-air missile. Those agreements are also dependent on the outcome of the fiscal 2027 budget.
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