L3Harris Technologies, a defense contractor, has expanded its operations in Huntsville with a new 379,000-square-foot production facility called Advanced Manufacturing Facility – South. The site, the size of more than six football fields, is designed to support surging production demands and emerging missile defense needs, including President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome.
“Solid rocket motors remain essential to the vast majority of the critical defense program that protects our communities, military and allies,” said Ken Bedingfield, president, Aerojet Rocketdyne, L3Harris. “Our growth in Huntsville represents another significant investment we are making to boost production capacity of critical components, and we’re proud that they are being made in Alabama.”
L3Harris has invested more than $20 million in renovations to support the scalable facility where the company will manufacture solid rocket motor components such as nozzles, exit cones, aft closures and cases. The facility features hydraulic presses, autoclaves, tape-wrap systems and composite machining that will help make components faster and with greater precision. The company’s Title III Defense Production Act cooperative agreement with the Department of Defense helped to fund the additional equipment.
AMF-South is supporting programs such as the Standard Missile, Guided Multiple Launch System and Javelin. The expansion already has resulted in 40 new jobs, with the company expecting to create more than 100 to support operations at the site over the next few years.
“The opening of this advanced manufacturing facility strengthens our state’s role in supporting critical national security programs and brings high-quality jobs to North Alabama,” said Gov. Kay Ivey. “I commend L3Harris for its commitment to investing in our workforce and fueling the next chapter of growth in the Rocket City.”
The AMF-South facility complements the existing 136,000-square-foot Advanced Manufacturing Facility-North building, which opened in 2019.
