L3Harris, Australia’s NIOA team to produce domestic ‘rocket motors, boosters and warheads’

INDOPAC 2023 — Australian munitions maker NIOA and American defense prime L3Harris have reached a “strategic agreement” for manufacturing guided weapons components in Australia, the two companies announced today.

The new partnership will focus on manufacturing “rocket motors, boosters and warheads” for weapons within the “portfolio” of newly-acquired L3Harris subsidiary Aerojet Rocketdyne, which “covers the wide range of weapons within Australia’s sovereign Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Enterprise,” according to a release shared by both companies. 

The partnership is also aimed at eventually expanding “to support future strategic partners to meet the guided weapon demands as identified by the Australian Defence Force as well as adjacent industry sectors like space,” NIOA Group CEO Robert Nioa said in the release. 

“As part of a world-leading technology company, Aerojet Rocketdyne is pleased to embark on this project to bring rocket motor and warhead manufacturing to Australia,” Aerojet Rocketdyne President Ross Niebergall said in the release.

According to Nioa, the trans-Pacific pact envisions the creation of a “multi-user rocket motor facility,” though the timeline for standing up that facility and its potential production volume were not shared. Nioa also called out needs for a more robust supply chain in the Indo-Pacific as the US and its allies prepare for a possible conflict with China, where officials are eyeing coproduction agreements with regional partners to boost capacity. 

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The partnership comes amid increasing collaboration between Australia and the US on projects like hypersonic technology and highlights closer ties between the two allies on defense cooperation. It also underscores the US-specific moves of NIOA, which bought the American firm Barrett Firearms in January. 

Demand for rocket motors in particular has been soaring as new national security demands and a growing space launch market have created fertile ground for growth. The US rocket motor market itself is expanding significantly after years of being dominated by Aerojet Rocketdyne and Orbital ATK, where smaller new suppliers are looking to compete, and large primes like Lockheed Martin are pursuing partnerships to increase rocket motor supply.

Since acquiring Aerojet Rocketdyne in July, L3Harris “deployed [its] leadership team to run the business,” Chief Executive Officer Chris Kubasik told investors during the company’s Oct. 27 third quarter earnings call. Prior to its acquisition, Aerojet Rocketdyne struggled to make deliveries for key customers like RTX, a trend Kubasik has vowed to turn around. 

“We’ve been clear, at least internally and hopefully externally, that our number one priority is to increase the deliveries specifically in the rocket motor sector,” Kubasik told investors. “So everything we’re doing is focused on increased deliveries.”