L3Harris Technologies, Inc.
L3Harris Technologies (LHX)
Overview
L3Harris Technologies is a major American defense contractor and aerospace technology company headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, formed by the 2019 merger of Harris Corporation and L3 Technologies. It sits in the Industrials sector under Aerospace & Defense, ranks as roughly the sixth-largest U.S. defense contractor by revenue, and employs about 45,000 people worldwide. The company generates close to $23 billion in annual revenue (trailing twelve months), supplying mission-critical technology — communications systems, space and intelligence hardware, and missile/propulsion systems — primarily to the U.S. Department of Defense, allied foreign governments, and, to a smaller degree, commercial and civil customers such as NASA.
What They Do & How They Make Money
L3Harris designs, manufactures, and sells specialized electronics and hardware for defense, intelligence, and space missions, earning revenue almost entirely through government contracts (cost-plus, fixed-price, and time-and-materials arrangements with the U.S. government and allied militaries) rather than open consumer or commercial markets. Its products span tactical radios and secure battlefield communications equipment used by soldiers and first responders, night-vision and electro-optical systems, satellite payloads and space-based sensors for missile warning and intelligence/surveillance/reconnaissance (ISR), avionics and electronic-warfare systems installed on military aircraft, and — since its 2023 acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne — solid- and liquid-fuel rocket propulsion systems and missile technology, including engines used on NASA's Space Launch System. Because most of its revenue flows from multi-year government programs and long-term defense budgets, L3Harris's growth is closely tied to U.S. and allied defense spending levels, program awards, and its backlog of signed contracts, giving it a more predictable but also more policy-dependent revenue base than a typical industrial company.
Business Segments
Historically (through fiscal 2025) L3Harris reported four segments: Space & Airborne Systems, Integrated Mission Systems, Communication Systems, and Aerojet Rocketdyne. In 2026 the company reorganized into a leaner three-segment structure:
- Space & Mission Systems (SMS) — satellite payloads, missile-warning and missile-defense sensors, ISR systems, weather-monitoring satellites, and avionics/electronic-warfare equipment; the largest segment by revenue (roughly $6.9 billion in the prior Space & Airborne Systems segment alone before reorganization)
- Communications & Spectrum Dominance (CSD) — tactical radios and waveforms, satellite communications terminals, night-vision/electro-optical equipment, public-safety communications gear, and broadband systems (combining the former Communication Systems and part of Integrated Mission Systems segments); together these communications-related businesses generated well over $10 billion combined in the prior segment structure
- Missile Solutions (MSL) — propulsion systems, hypersonic technology, and advanced missile systems, built substantially around the former Aerojet Rocketdyne business (roughly $2.8 billion in its first full year under L3Harris); the company has announced plans to spin this segment off via IPO in the second half of 2026, with roughly $1 billion in related government investment
Total company revenue was approximately $21.9 billion in FY2025, up from $19.4 billion in FY2023 and $17.1 billion in FY2022, reflecting both organic growth and the Aerojet Rocketdyne acquisition. L3Harris has also been divesting non-core pieces, including selling a majority stake in its Space Propulsion unit to AE Industrial Partners for roughly $845 million, as management sharpens the portfolio around higher-growth defense priorities.
Competitors
- Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX (Raytheon), General Dynamics, and Boeing Defense — the other members of the "big prime" U.S. defense contractors, competing across communications, space, missile, and electronic-warfare programs
- BAE Systems — UK-based defense contractor with a significant U.S. presence, competing in electronics, communications, and combat systems
- Leidos and Booz Allen Hamilton — competitors in the broader government IT, ISR, and mission-support services space
- Motorola Solutions — competitor in tactical and public-safety communications equipment
- Airbus Defence and Space, Thales — European competitors in satellite and space systems
- SpaceX, Blue Origin, and other newer space/launch entrants — increasingly relevant competitors and partners in the space-systems and satellite-payload arena
- In propulsion/missiles specifically, competitors include divisions of Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and RTX that build competing missile and rocket-motor systems
Competitive Position
L3Harris's competitive advantage comes from deep, long-standing relationships with the U.S. Department of Defense and allied governments, a broad and technically differentiated product portfolio that touches nearly every domain of modern warfare (land, sea, air, space, and cyber/spectrum), and high switching costs once its systems are integrated into military platforms and doctrine — a military branch that has standardized on L3Harris tactical radios or satellite payloads faces significant cost and risk to switch suppliers. The 2019 Harris/L3 merger and 2023 Aerojet Rocketdyne acquisition gave it much greater scale and vertical integration (owning both electronics/communications and propulsion capability), positioning it as a genuine "prime" alongside Lockheed, Northrop, and RTX rather than a second-tier subcontractor, and its backlog of multi-year government contracts provides good revenue visibility.
Key risks center on the company's dependence on government budgets and political decision-making: U.S. defense appropriations, continuing resolutions, program cancellations, and shifting administration priorities can all delay or reduce revenue, and cost-plus or fixed-price contract structures expose the company to margin risk if program costs run over. Program execution risk is real given the technical complexity of the systems it builds, and 2025's leadership turmoil — the board's removal of CEO Chris Kubasik in August 2026 following a code-of-conduct violation, with internal successor Sam Mehta stepping in — introduced near-term uncertainty even as the company reaffirmed its 2026 financial guidance. The planned IPO spin-off of the Missile Solutions segment (targeted for the second half of 2026) reflects a broader strategy of focusing the remaining company on its highest-growth, highest-margin segments, but also means shedding a business line that had been a meaningful growth driver since the Aerojet Rocketdyne deal, and execution risk around that separation is itself a factor investors are watching closely.