The new buildings will be located on L3Harris’ Arkansas Advanced Propulsion Facilities campus in Camden. The expansion is part of the company’s broader effort to increase solid rocket motor and propulsion production capacity at key U.S. sites.
“We’re self funding these new facilities in Arkansas to move at the speed this mission requires,” said Christopher Kubasik, Chairman and CEO, L3Harris. “This expansion boosts our ability to deliver PAC 3 propulsion faster and at greater quantities, while strengthening military readiness and providing proven capability our warfighters depend on.”
L3Harris produces the PAC-3 MSE interceptor’s advanced two-pulse solid rocket motor, Attitude Control Motors and Lethality Enhancer. The two new PAC-3 propulsion facilities include an approximately 75,000-square-foot cast, cure and final assembly facility and an approximately 70,000-square-foot case preparation facility.
The facilities will incorporate advanced manufacturing capabilities intended to accelerate production throughput. These include automated X-ray inspection systems using artificial intelligence for rapid defect detection, fully automated casting and expanded curing capacity.
L3Harris and Arkansas state leaders broke ground on the broader AAPF campus last year. The project is part of an ongoing effort to build modernized solid rocket motor production facilities across the United States.
The AAPF campus will specialize in producing medium and large solid rocket motors. These motors will support tactical and air defense missiles, missile defense targets, interceptors, hypersonic vehicles and emerging missile defense requirements.
L3Harris is building about 60 facilities and expanding its manufacturing footprint by nearly 1 million square feet. The work covers company production sites in Alabama, Arkansas and Virginia.
