L3Harris Technologies’ [LHX] Aerojet Rocketdyne company is acquiring new equipment, designing new facilities, and moving some manufacturing under a year-old Defense Department contract to increase production capacity for solid rocket motors (SRMs) primarily in support of three missile and rocket systems, the company said last week.
As part of the expansion and modernization effort under the $215.6 million contract from DoD’s Office of Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization, Aerojet Rocketdyne is moving manufacturing of solid rocket motors for Javelin and Stinger missiles from Camden, Ark., to the company’s site in Orange County, Va.
“We are aligning product lines to our site centers of excellence, focusing on core capabilities, specialty areas and future demand, Mark Farley, vice president of site operations and manufacturing for Aerojet Rocketdyne, said in a statement. “The move will allow the Camden site to focus on and expand their work manufacturing medium and large solid rocket motors, while our Orange site will specialize in small motors.”
L3Harris said the work in Virginia will include adding new facilities and hiring more personnel.
Camden is the company’s center of excellence for SRMs and work there under the April 2023 DoD contract includes construction of a new 65,000 square feet manufacturing facility for the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS), which will consolidate manufacturing activities from three buildings into one.
“The automation of processes, upgraded equipment and consolidation of cast and assembly operations into a single building will increase production capacity and overall production efficiency for this important program,” L3Harris said.
The Javelin anti-armor weapon system, Stinger anti-aircraft missile—both of which are shoulder-fired—and GMLRS rockets are all being provided in large quantities to Ukrainian forces in their war against Russia. Lockheed Martin
[LMT] makes GMLRS, which is launched from the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, RTX [RTX] the Stinger, and the two companies have a joint venture responsible for Javelin.
L3Harris said it is in the design phase of nearly a dozen SRM production buildings and is also buying “highly specialized long-lead equipment such as large-capacity mixers and grinders.”
Chris Kubasik, the company’s chairman and CEO, in April said L3Harris has ordered new “ovens and mixers,” for its SRM expansion, adding that this equipment takes about a year to arrive (Defense Daily, April 26).
“Our building design approach incorporates automation and robotics throughout the cast and assembly buildings to maximize the efficiency and flow through the manufacturing process with a minimum of unnecessary movement,” Byron Lee, Aerojet’s program manager in charge of implementing the cooperative agreement with DoD, said in a statement. “We have made significant progress on the designs for both the automation and the building floorplans at both our Camden and Orange sites.”
Lee also said the company is undertaking a digital transformation to better share product data across systems.
As part of the SRM expansion and realignment, Aerojet is moving inert component work such as case-winding and nozzle production for GMLRS and Javelin from Camden to Huntsville, Ala. The company has leased a 379,000 square foot facility in Huntsville for additional workspace and capacity.
Aerojet also said it is working with government officials to prepare land for energetic manufacturing, and going through the permitting process for roads and infrastructure at the Camden and Orange sites. The federal government is also planning to conduct an environmental assessment at both sites, the company said.