HUNTSVILLE, Alabama, Oct 29 (Reuters) - L3Harris

Technologies' ( LHX ) business unit Aerojet Rocketdyne has

doubled its monthly production of motors for GMLRS rockets that

are heavily used in Ukraine, a company executive said on

Tuesday, as global demand surges to supply Kyiv and to rebuild

shrinking U.S. stockpiles.

Demand for rocket motors is soaring worldwide because of

wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Other militaries are also

realizing that future conflicts will likely require many more

rockets and missiles - as a part of a new warfighting doctrine

dubbed "affordable mass" to describe the sheer volume of

firepower involved.

This is good news for L3Harris ( LHX ). In December 2022 the U.S.

defense contractor offered to purchase Aerojet, which produces

about half of all the rocket motors propelling U.S. military

missiles, rockets and other projectiles. But at that time no one

knew how long the Ukraine war would last and the Pentagon had

signed few contracts to restock its shelves.

Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System rockets, also known

as GMLRS, travel about 45 miles (72 km). Their widespread use

and success in Ukraine has driven demand from new customers.

"GMLRS was a program that we have kind of unbounded demand

for. In the most recent quarter, we've doubled the production

that we averaged per month from 2023," said Ross Niebergall,

president of Aerojet Rocketdyne.

Since closing on the deal to buy Aerojet, Niebergall said

L3Harris ( LHX ) has increased capital spending for the rocket motor

unit by 84%, while also flooding as many as 75 suppliers with

over $25 million to help increase productivity.

Aerojet did not provide GMLRS motor production figures. But

Lockheed Martin ( LMT ), the main contractor for GMLRS, was

making about 4,600 per year before ramping up production in

2022. Lockheed's GMLRS production is scheduled to rise from

10,000 deliveries in 2024 to 14,000 deliveries in 2025.

The GMLRS production line also uses motors from Northrop

Grumman ( NOC ).

The strong demand has spurred new entrants into the U.S.

rocket motor manufacturing business, but they do not have mass

production capabilities.

Aerojet's facilities around Huntsville, Alabama, have been

built out with investments in large carbon-fiber winding devices

to make advanced cases, new more automated presses for nozzles

and fittings, and better quality control technology under

L3Harris' ( LHX ) ownership since the deal closed just over a year ago.

The newly fitted-out building produces the critical casings

for the most in-demand solid fuel rocket motors, like Javelin

antitank weapons and GMLRS rockets as well as much larger rocket

motors.