{"id":69380,"date":"2025-02-20T21:33:45","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T21:33:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2025\/02\/20\/l3harris-breaks-ground-on-solid-rocket-motor-production-expansion\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:14:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:14:40","slug":"l3harris-breaks-ground-on-solid-rocket-motor-production-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/industry\/2025\/02\/20\/l3harris-breaks-ground-on-solid-rocket-motor-production-expansion\/","title":{"rendered":"L3Harris breaks ground on solid rocket motor production expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The construction of four new solid rocket motor production facilities<\/a> has begun at L3Harris\u2019 Aerojet Rocketdyne campus<\/a> in Camden, Arkansas, with a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday, the company announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new facilities are part of a $215.6 million Defense Production Act program agreement between the Defense Department and L3Harris to increase rocket propulsion manufacturing capacity in the continental U.S. to keep pace with the rising global demand for tactical and strategic missile production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExpanding solid rocket motor production in Arkansas is a strategic investment in our nation\u2019s security at a time when defense and deterrence are increasingly critical on the global stage,\u201d Ken Bedingfield, president of L3Harris\u2019 Aerojet Rocketdyne, said. \u201cL3Harris is committed to ramping up production to support the defense of our nation, its allies and partners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key production will be centralized under one 60,000-square foot, \u201cstate-of-the-art\u201d facility, the company said. This will cut the distance rocket motors travel during manufacturing by 80%, the statement notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, a dedicated mixer building and complementary propellant processing buildings will be constructed to increase capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aerojet Rocketdyne, <\/b>which has been in Camden since 1979, <\/b>builds more than 75,000 solid-rocket motors a year for weapons like the Javelin, Stinger and Patriot missiles. Prior to the expansion, its Camden workforce totaled more than 1,000 employees in 2023, Aerojet told Defense News at the time. That number has now grown to 1,200 employees, a company spokesperson confirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the establishment of the cooperative agreement with DOD in 2023, the company designed new buildings and plans for undeveloped property across multiple sites, according to <\/b>the statement, and purchased new tooling and equipment, which is already being used to increase rocket motor production.<\/p>\n\n\n\t