By Ross Niebergall
President, Aerojet Rocketdyne
One year ago, as Ukraine’s military defended its citizens from Russian missile attacks and the United States sought to replenish its own arsenal, demand for solid rocket motors was skyrocketing. Aerojet Rocketdyne, a national asset, had been powering the tactical, air defense and missile defense systems demanded by the U.S. and our allies for decades. The company had a distinguished legacy for producing this critical propulsion, but it needed support to reach its full potential.
At L3Harris, we saw an opportunity to strategically apply our resources – from financial to operational – to strengthen the venerable propulsion provider. We committed to government and industry partners that our acquisition would ensure reliable access to the critical technologies necessary to support U.S. security, as well as our allies and partners.
The acquisition wouldn’t just strengthen Aerojet Rocketdyne, we said, it would benefit the defense industrial base and nation as a whole.
Now, we’re delivering on that commitment.
Over the past year, we’ve made remarkable progress improving the business, and our customers have noticed. Solid rocket motor production is up. On-time delivery has increased. We have reduced delayed deliveries by nearly half and are poised to further reduce this delivery backlog in the coming months. For some key programs, we’ve moved from overdue to ahead of contract deliveries.
