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L3Harris builds military electronics and communications systems — radios, sensors, satellites, and other defense gear — mostly for the U.S. government and its allies.
L3Harris is a defense and aerospace company that makes the hidden hardware of modern warfare: military radios that let soldiers talk securely, sensors and cameras that spot threats, and electronics that help weapons find their targets. It's also a big player in space and satellite systems and in flight simulators and pilot training. Its main customer is the U.S. government, especially the Department of Defense, and America's allies around the world. These buyers don't shop on price alone. They need gear that works in combat, survives jamming, and passes strict security reviews — which is why this is a clubby business with only a few real players.
The company itself is the product of a 2019 merger between Harris Corporation, a longtime radio and communications maker, and L3 Technologies. That deal created one of the six big U.S. defense primes, alongside names like Lockheed Martin, RTX, and Northrop Grumman. Size matters here: the Pentagon wants fewer, bigger suppliers that can handle giant contracts and classified work, and the merger gave L3Harris that scale. The business runs on multi-year contracts, which makes revenue fairly predictable, though it depends heavily on government budgets and politics. One growing focus is space: the company builds satellites and sensors for detecting and tracking missiles, an area getting more attention and money as global threats increase. It also makes drones and electronic warfare gear that jams enemy communications. A big chunk of sales comes from so-called "international" customers — allied militaries buying American equipment — and that has been a growth engine.
In the late 1800s, Alfred Harris built a faster printing press and started a company in Niles, Ohio to sell it. That small press business would quietly grow for decades, slowly turning from ink and paper into electronics and communications — one half of a much bigger story still to come.
The printing company made a leap into the space age when it merged with Radiation, Inc., a Florida firm that built antennas, circuits and modems for the space race. Suddenly the old press maker was a print-and-electronics company, and its headquarters would later land in Melbourne, Florida — exactly where the modern company sits today.
When Lockheed and Martin Marietta merged, regulators forced them to sell off some business units. Two former Loral and Lockheed executives, Frank Lanza and Robert LaPenta, teamed up with Lehman Brothers to buy those pieces and created L-3 Communications. Under Lanza, the company went on an extraordinary buying spree — over 100 acquisitions in its first 19 years — becoming a defense giant built almost entirely by shopping.
Harris made its biggest purchase ever by buying a competitor, Exelis, nearly doubling in size overnight. The print-and-electronics company was now a serious defense player, and it was hungry for more.
The two halves finally met: Harris and L3 Technologies combined in an all-stock merger of equals, creating L3Harris and making it the sixth-largest defense contractor in America. One condition: Harris had to sell its night vision division, because putting both companies' night vision businesses together would have made one company the only real choice for buyers. The new giant was based in Melbourne, Florida.
Chris Kubasik, who had helped steer the big merger as president and chief operating officer, took over as CEO from William Brown, who stayed on as Executive Chair. The man who helped build the combination was now the one running it.
L3Harris paid $4.7 billion in cash for Aerojet Rocketdyne, a rocket and missile propulsion company with about $2.2 billion in yearly revenue. It became a whole new fourth business segment — the company now made the engines that push things into space and the motors that power missiles.
Not long after buying Aerojet Rocketdyne, L3Harris agreed to sell a majority stake in its Space Propulsion and Power Systems sector to AE Industrial Partners, which plans to spin it off as Rocketdyne. The remaining Missile Solutions business is set to go public on its own, with L3Harris keeping control and the US government putting in $1 billion. The big rocket purchase was being taken apart almost as fast as it was put together.
Chairman and CEO Chris Kubasik left the company after a board investigation found his conduct was inconsistent with the company's code of conduct. Sam Mehta, who had run segments bringing in about 80% of total revenue, was named CEO right away. Shares fell 4.6%, and the missile unit's IPO was delayed — a double blow that shook the company's restructuring story just as it was trying to sell investors on the plan.
L3Harris is not a flashy company. It plows cash into research, factories, and acquisitions, and it pays a dividend and buys back shares. The honest risks: profits can get squeezed when fixed-price contracts run over budget, and its fortunes are tied to Washington's spending decisions. If defense budgets stay strong, the company's steady contract backlog keeps the cash flowing. If priorities shift, the whole industry feels it.
Saved answer · last researched 30 Oct 2026