R.E. Darling Co., Inc.

Money Moves

Expanding solid rocket motor insulation manufacturing capacity

For three decades, the Pentagon told defense contractors to consolidate. Now it's paying $1 billion to help one spin off, taking an equity stake in L3Harris's solid rocket motor business in January 2026 — the first time it has directly invested in a defense supplier. Congress passed an $838.7 billion FY2026 defense budget with $2.9 billion for munitions and industrial capacity expansion, while Raytheon announced five framework agreements to triple Tomahawk production and double AMRAAM output.

Updated May 22