Solid Rocket Motor Supply Shift

This shift matters because solid rocket motors are becoming a planned capacity layer of the defense industrial base, not just a part bought from two legacy vendors. The Pentagon is using direct funding, qualification support, and prime backed partnerships to add new lines, new plants, and new formulations so missile makers have backup supply when demand spikes for artillery rockets, interceptors, and tactical missiles.

• The old center of gravity is still Northrop and Aerojet Rocketdyne. Northrop says it has delivered more than 1.3 million motors, invested over $1 billion in SRM production since 2018, and is pushing capacity toward nearly 50 million pounds of propellant by 2028 and more than 25,000 motors a year by 2029.
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• The government is deliberately paying for new supply. The DoD gave Anduril $14.3 million under DPA Title III in January 2025 to expand SRM production, then Anduril added another $43.7 million award and opened full rate Mississippi production in August 2025, becoming the third U.S. SRM supplier.
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• Primes are also building second sources around the incumbents. Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics announced an SRM teaming agreement in August 2024, and Avio USA is entering with anchor support from Raytheon and Lockheed. That means future missile programs can dual source propulsion instead of waiting on one constrained merchant supplier.
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The next phase is a bigger supplier web where incumbents keep scale, but startups and prime led ventures win overflow demand, niche programs, and eventually full program slots. That favors companies like Firehawk that can sell not only motors, but manufacturing methods and propellant capacity that help the government qualify more than one path to supply.