L3Harris Technologies Begins Operations at New Solid Rocket Motor Propellant Processing Facility

L3Harris Technologies has opened the latest building in its series of new construction and modernization efforts aimed at increasing efficiency at its Camden, Arkansas, site. The new ammonium perchlorate (AP) processing facility enables the Camden team to more efficiently process the crucial ingredient used to make solid rocket motor propellant.

Ammonium perchlorate is an oxidizer, a substance that promotes combustion, used in solid rocket motors that power many Department of Defense (DoD) programs.

Jim Watson, who leads the Camden site, said the 4,500 square foot AP screening and conditioning facility will enable the team to more efficiently process and handle the crucial ingredient used to make solid rocket motor propellant.

"As we continue to modernize our production facilities in Camden, the ability to screen and condition AP at our site will speed up mixture processing for solid propellants that power key defense programs," said Watson. "This is among a number of strategic construction projects that we have undertaken to improve safety while boosting quality and production at our site."

The new AP screening and conditioning facility is located adjacent to a new5,200 square foot chemical testing laboratory that opened recently to increase operational efficiency and testing capability for inert and energetic solid rocket motor materials, and a 51,000 square foot facility completed in 2022 that is used to manufacture propulsion systems for the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) program.

The newly constructed AP processing facility is located strategically at the center of the Camden site, which encompasses more than 140 buildings across nearly 2,000 acres, with 1.15 million square feet of floor space.