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.
