L3Harris Technologies plans to invest $1.3 billion to significantly expand its solid rocket motor (SRM) manufacturing operations in Orange County, marking one of the largest recent investments in U.S. defense production capacity.
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The announcement, made by Abigail Spanberger, builds on the company’s earlier $41.2 million expansion initiative launched in 2024. The new investment will establish an advanced propulsion campus designed to support multiple U.S. Department of Defense programs.
The planned campus will include facilities for mixing, grinding, casting and final assembly of solid rocket motors, positioning the company to scale production amid growing demand for missile systems.
L3Harris’ previous $41.2 million project — currently underway — supports Javelin propulsion systems and is expected to be completed this year. That effort includes five robotically enabled facilities, along with a dedicated casting and assembly center.
The new $1.3 billion expansion will dramatically increase the scale of operations, with officials noting that the Orange County site is expected to more than double its SRM manufacturing space. The campus will include dozens of new buildings totaling hundreds of thousands of square feet.
A construction timeline has not been disclosed, but the company said it is working with designers and contractors to accelerate development.
The project is expected to create more than 350 jobs over the next five years, further strengthening Virginia’s position as a hub for defense manufacturing.
The expansion is part of L3Harris’ broader strategy to grow its newly formed missile solutions business, launched earlier this year in partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense. The company is targeting an initial public offering for the business in the second half of 2026.
As part of the agreement, the Defense Department has committed $1 billion as an anchor investment, which will convert into equity once the business goes public.
“The reason we wanted the $1 billion as an anchor investor is to give us confidence that we can invest today,” said Christopher Kubasik, chairman and CEO of L3Harris.
Kubasik emphasized the urgency of expanding production capacity during a recent investor event.
“Missiles, we don’t have enough, they need more,” he said. “We have the scale, and we’re scaling even larger to make more. This isn’t time for experiments. This isn’t time for demos. We need to crank out the serious amount of solid rocket motors and the OEMs that we work for need to deliver a ton of missiles, and this is the way to do it.”
The expansion will draw on design elements from L3Harris’ “Factories of the Future” model, including a major campus in Camden operated by subsidiary Aerojet Rocketdyne. That site, which broke ground in 2025, includes more than 20 buildings dedicated to rocket motor production.
Virginia has recently attracted multiple defense-related investments. Companies such as Avio and Solstice Advanced Materials have also announced major manufacturing projects in the state, supported in part by new incentive programs.
With defense demand increasing and federal support expanding, L3Harris’ investment signals continued growth in domestic missile production capacity and underscores the critical role of advanced manufacturing in national security.
Originally reported by Sara Samora, Reporter in Manufacturing Dive.
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