L3Harris expands Virginia plant as Javelin demand surges
L3Harris has commenced construction of a new rocket motor factory in Virginia to boost the production of key components for the FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missiles.
According to the portal Defense News, L3Harris has started work on expanding its Aerojet Rocketdyne facility in Orange County, Virginia, where small and medium rocket motors will be produced. In addition to increasing production capabilities, the testing centre will also be modernised.
All this aims to quickly fill the gap in the US Army's handheld anti-tank weaponry after supplying Ukraine with over 10,000 Javelins following February 2022. Their annual production is set to increase from 2,400 to nearly 4,000 units by 2026, necessitating the expansion of all subcontractors' facilities. The project is funded by a portion of the $215 million the company received to enhance production capacities.
Increasing production efficiency
The expansion is scheduled to be completed in the third or fourth quarter of 2026, and production is expected to commence in early 2027, said Scott Alexander, president of missile solutions at L3Harris. The company has been operating in the Shenandoah region for 30 years, producing rocket motors for major programmes including the Standard Missile, Trident II D5, and a jet engine for NASA's Artemis programme. This area is also home to a propellant research and development centre, as well as SRM production and advanced testing facilities.
L3Harris has also begun building new facilities in Camden, Arkansas, which will focus on increasing the production of rocket motors utilised in GMLRS rockets. The company is also relocating all its inactive components, such as motor casings, to Huntsville, Alabama.
Innovations in the production process
Julie Wikete, director of the Aerojet facility in Orange, stated that the new buildings will feature increased automation and robotics. She explained that by constructing these updated facilities, the company can implement forward-thinking designs that will directly enhance the production of Javelin rocket systems.
The new facilities are designed to boost the company’s overall production capacity for Javelin rocket motors by 20%, thanks to strategic building layouts and optimized production lines. This enhancement is aimed at reducing total production time, resulting in quicker delivery schedules.
FGM-148 Javelin: An effective weapon against Russian armoured forces
The FGM-148 Javelin is an advanced "fire and forget" anti-tank system that plays a crucial role in the conflict in Ukraine. Thanks to fourth-generation infrared guidance technology where the sensor sees a thermal image of the target, it effectively destroys Russian tanks, as confirmed by video materials. However, their numbers have decreased in recent months, possibly due to Ukrainians conserving missiles owing to a lack of new supplies from the US.
The FGM-148 Javelin system allows targeting in two modes. The first is a direct attack useful for very short distances, and the second involves the missile initially ascending before diving down onto the target. This is deadly for tanks, as the missile strikes the tank’s weakest top armour.
Adding cages or reactive armour blocks on the roof has little effect in this context, as the dual-charge warhead can penetrate even over 70 cm of equivalent armoured steel. Such protection characterises the front part of the tank, not its top. The range of the missiles in the first version from the 1990s was about 2.4 km, and the current production now features the ability to hit targets over 4.5 km away.
