Aerojet Rocketdyne, a leading supplier of solid-fuel rocket motors, a critical component of munitions, continues to work with the goal of significantly increasing its production capacity after being acquired by L3Harris approximately two years ago. The rapidly increasing global demand for tactical and strategic missiles is encouraging the company to take innovative steps in this direction.
As part of this strategic pursuit, Aerojet Rocketdyne broke ground earlier this year on four new solid-fuel rocket engine manufacturing facilities at its existing campus in Camden, Arkansas. These new facilities will play a critical role in helping the company significantly increase production volumes to meet growing demand.
Earlier this month, Defense News sat down with Ken Bedingfield, chief financial officer of L3Harris and president of Aerojet Rocketdyne, to discuss in-depth the rapid growth of the solid-fuel rocket engine industry and how the company plans to reshape its manufacturing processes and partnerships to deliver innovative solutions to this demand. Here are the highlights of this important conversation, edited for length and clarity:
Capacity Targets for Increasing Demand: The Next Five Years
With demand for solid-fuel rocket engines so high, where do you see the company going in terms of capacity growth in the next five years?
It has been almost two years since we acquired Aerojet Rocketdyne and there were a number of delayed deliveries at the time of the acquisition. We have made a concerted effort to address these delays and have probably completed approximately 60% of the deliveries that were delayed at the time of the acquisition.
Which programs are lagging behind?
There have been delays, of course, across multiple programs, but we have improved that significantly and continue to focus on that. We are increasing the delivery capacity, particularly for tactical engines like the Stinger, Javelin and GMLRS [Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System missiles]. We have approximately doubled the [capital expenditure] investment we made to increase the capacity of the existing facilities in Camden, and then we are investing in bringing a new facility online with funding from the U.S. government under the Defense Acquisition Act… particularly for the Stinger, Javelin and GMLRS.
We will continue to focus a significant portion of our efforts to increase that capability over the next three to five years on tactical engines. Of course, we continue to invest in R&D [research and development] all the time, and so if there is a need to focus on a different engine, if you're talking about multiple launches, it will probably be a smaller engine, and we can certainly ramp up pretty quickly where we have the capacity to address those things.
We're definitely focused on cost-effectiveness and how we can deliver as much capability as possible at the lowest possible cost. I think we're trying to get at that from a design perspective, certainly from the capital side, repeatability, robotics, automation, and then: What are the materials in the thrusters? How do you burn the thrusters? How do you get range from the amount of mass that you have?
We have a pretty diverse portfolio. And there's a lot of programs and products out there, so there's probably always going to be some delay when you focus your resources on what's critical right now. But I think we'll get to a more stable state, probably by the end of 2025, to a large extent. At that point, we can really focus on driving capacity improvements and seeing the results of the investments we've made in capacity and, again, continuing to reduce those delays while also addressing the amount of demand that we're seeing from customers.
The Role of Robotics and Automation in Manufacturing
Can you expand the robotics and automation applications you have implemented in your facilities and what does this mean for different employees involved in production?
We’re hiring in Camden and Huntsville. We still need people, but it’s just that the jobs they do will be different. I would say that as we move forward, there will be more science and less “art” in how you build an engine. Some of that automation is how you actually do the casting and molding of the propellant itself, whether it’s robotically applying materials to the inside of the engine or robotically applying materials to the outside. We automate those types of processes to make sure you get the right quality because the tolerances are pretty tight and you have to be pretty specific about how you do it. That reduces the risk of needing rework and things like that.
So what will the workforce focus on in terms of other parts of the production process?
Quality control, absolutely. Predictive data is another important area. I think there's an opportunity for the workforce to do some aspects of that, but for the most part, we're automating where there are repeatable, high-volume processes. We're pulling the workforce out of there and moving them into less repeatable, lower-volume areas, potentially moving from manufacturing to R&D, for example.
Strategies to Increase Production Speed
How much faster can you produce solid rocket motors for your major programs?
We can certainly increase the speed at which we can produce solid-fuel rocket engines. But some of that depends on how quickly we can get the contract signed. And unfortunately, some of these engines take longer to get the contract signed than you would like or expect. And also, as you work with the supply chain, there are some long-term items that mean we can't deliver until we get some of these parts.
We have to be able to get our suppliers going. There are a limited number of suppliers who make the cases, the nozzles, some of the other components of the product. So we've made some investments in the supply base and the suppliers, giving them some capital, some equipment, and so on, and so we're trying to shorten that time. We're working with our customers to fund some of the long-term requirements, to keep those lines "hot," so that when capacity is needed, we can come on as quickly as possible.
Resilience Against Future Demand Fluctuations
How do you build flexibility into your manufacturing process to cope with future demand fluctuations? Obviously demand is high right now, but we can’t predict the future.
As we look at some of the investments that we make, we try to think about them being more flexible, I hate to use that word, but less program-centric, where they can be used across multiple products and programs. Maybe one week you're working on a Javelin or another type of smaller engine, and the next week you're able to mix and cast for a different engine.
That’s one of the things we really wanted the team to think about. It’s hard because when you look at a solid-fuel rocket motor facility, because you’re dealing with explosives, it has to be distributed. And because it’s distributed, you tend to distribute it by product or by program. So you’ll go around a facility and say, “There’s a [Patriot Advanced Capability]-3 building. There’s an SRM building, Standard Missile 2, Standard Missile 2 1B, or Standard Missile 3,” … and now we’re trying to say, “There’s a mix and pour building,” and then you get that where it needs to be, and then you integrate it into the next product.
We call it the factory of the future for solid rocket motors, to rethink how we do that. And I think it's a good time to do that because, as I mentioned, we've doubled [our capital expenditures] in the two years since we bought the business, and as we work with the U.S. government to integrate the DPA with our capital, it gives us an opportunity to make sure that we really think about how we can scale up as demand changes over time, while still focusing on following the letter of the law of what the DPA is for — and these were three specific programs.
Collaboration Opportunities with New Players
Do you see opportunities to partner with non-traditional companies working on various aspects of this industry or with new entrants to the industry?
Yes, we do. We see ourselves as a credible “disruptor” in the defense industry. We think we’re a little bit more agile than some of the traditional “nobles,” and so we think we’re a good partner to be able to move quickly and work with some of the newer entrants, and we think some of the discussions will eventually get there.
“Golden Dome” Missile Defense System
How does L3Harris approach President Trump’s executive order to establish the homeland’s missile defense shield, which he calls the “Golden Dome”? Have you responded to the Missile Defense Agency’s requests for information?
I think there were eight RFIs [requests for information] from MDA, and then another agency had a bunch of RFIs to respond to. We responded to all of them. We're excited about Golden Dome. We think it's an important capability to keep the homeland secure, and we think we have a lot of technology and capabilities there, whether it's space-based missile warning, missile tracking, capabilities around interceptors. You may have seen that we at Aerojet Rocketdyne have been successful in finding positions in various interceptor programs, whether it's thrust or guidance and attitude control.
We do a lot of ballistic missile targets. And you may have seen recently, I think they called it the FT-X 40, a test that was conducted and we pretty much had the capability for that. It was the first ballistic missile test that used a new engine that we developed. It also tested a hypersonic capability that, let's say, L3 Harris had an interest in or a capability around.
