L3Harris Technologies and Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders have unveiled plans to construct a major Large Solid Rocket Motor (LSRM) production campus in Camden. The project is part of a broader $500 million capital investment across the company s production sites aimed at scaling solid rocket motor manufacturing for missile defense and hypersonic programs.

The new Camden campus will span over 110 acres, featuring more than 20 purpose-built facilities for high-speed, adaptable production of LSRM propulsion systems. The expansion will add over 130,000 square feet of manufacturing and office space to L3Harris existing 2,000-acre energetic materials site, which currently employs approximately 1,300 team members.

Arkansas is a great place for L3Harris to fortify the domestic solid rocket motor industrial base, said Christopher E. Kubasik, Chair and CEO of L3Harris. These propulsion systems are essential to U.S. missile defense and strategic deterrence, and we re scaling rapidly to meet that need.

The company s program-agnostic production lines will enable quick transitions between different defense systems, allowing L3Harris to respond flexibly to evolving customer needs. This initiative is expected to increase the company s rocket motor manufacturing capacity six-fold.

Governor Sanders praised the project following recent meetings with L3Harris leadership, including at the Paris Air Show in June:

We are proud to welcome L3Harris new manufacturing campus to South Arkansas. With our economic momentum and dedicated workforce, Arkansas is becoming the arsenal of democracy, she said. Aerospace and defense are our number one export industry, and L3Harris investment strengthens both our economy and national security.

The facility will support production of large solid rocket motors for a range of critical U.S. defense systems, including interceptors, missile defense targets, and hypersonic vehicles. Materials used in production will include fiber-reinforced composites, aligning with evolving industry standards for lighter, stronger, and more sustainable propulsion technologies.

This expansion marks a pivotal step for Arkansas aerospace sector, said Clint O Neal, Executive Director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. L3Harris is not only enhancing U.S. defense capabilities but also creating valuable, high-tech jobs in South Arkansas.

L3Harris has a legacy of delivering large solid rocket motors to the U.S. military for over 60 years, having powered every U.S. Air Force Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) ever deployed. In 2020, the company opened a 17,000-square-foot Engineering, Manufacturing and Development (EMD) facility in Camden, focused on delivering next-gen propulsion for hypersonic and strategic deterrence systems.

Construction of the new facilities will begin later this year, with full-scale production targeted for 2027.

Source: www.l3harris.com