2019 test of a rocket engine preburner by the Air Force Research Lab and Aerojet Rocketdyne at NASA Stennis Space Center.

2019 test of a rocket engine preburner by the Air Force Research Lab and Aerojet Rocketdyne at NASA Stennis Space Center. U.S. Air Force

Aerojet Rocketdyne Struggling to Deliver Rocket Motors, Raytheon CEO Says

The charge comes after the Aerojet CEO questioned whether Raytheon has problems of its own.

Updated at 4:10 p.m. to add a statement from Aerojet Rocketdyne.

Aerojet Rocketdyne is struggling to deliver quality rocket motors and has become “the weak link” in Raytheon Technologies’ supply chain, the latter company’s CEO said.

Raytheon has between 35 and 50 people working with Aerojet with scheduling and “working through…some of the quality issues that they're seeing,” Greg Hayes said in an interview.

The “supply chain has at least stabilized with the exception of our rocket-motor supplier,” he said. “In fact, that is the only supplier that's getting worse…from a performance standpoint, as opposed to better.”

The charge comes as Aerojet officials are reportedly evaluating bids to sell their firm after federal antitrust regulators blocked Lockheed Martin from acquiring the rocket engine maker earlier this year. 

“They are, and they are distracted,” Hayes said. “We need some adult supervision there to actually help these guys.”

In an emailed statement, an Aerojet spokesman said the company “has been in close contact” with the Pentagon and the large defense firms it supplies “to ensure we continue to deliver the innovative, reliable propulsion systems that support and protect today’s warfighters.”

“We have had disruption to our supplies of certain materials and components, and, like many other companies in our industry, we have been impacted by a highly competitive labor market, which is affecting our rate of hiring for skilled workers, however our attrition rate is back down to more normal rates,” the statement said. “We have expanded our facilities, implemented more efficient manufacturing processes, and continue our efforts to grow our workforce. These investments position our company to deliver both on our current contracts and the next-generation systems to support defense needs of tomorrow.”

In a November SEC filing, Aerojet mentioned “cost growth from supply chain disruptions and necessary technical and manufacturing changes” on Raytheon’s Standard missile programs.

On November’s quarterly earnings call, Aerojet CEO Eileen Drake blamed the Standard missile delays on a fire at one of its suppliers, and suggested Raytheon might be having its own problems. “We have some catch-up, but that's our piece of the Raytheon supply-chain issue,” Drake said. “I'm not sure of the other issues that they might be having.”

After the Lockheed deal collapsed, Aerojet became embroiled in a public boardroom spat between Drake and then-Chairman Warren Lichtenstein. Drake prevailed in early summer and began trying to sell the company again in late October, Reuters reported.

Raytheon was a vocal opponent of the proposed Lockheed deal; company officials argued that it would have given one of their chief competitors a corner on the market.

Aerojet is a key supplier for numerous Raytheon weapons, including the Standard Missile-3, Standard Missile-6, and Stinger. About 21 percent of Aerojet’s sales over the first nine months of this year have been to Raytheon, according to the rocket-maker’s latest SEC filing

But, Hayes said, the company has not properly prepared for increased orders and is short workers and raw material. 

“They've got a high-quality product,” he said. “They see demand doubling in the next couple of years and they just have not facilitized for it.

“You can build the best missile in the world, but if there's no rocket motor for it, that's a problem,” Hayes added.

In the months after Lockheed announced its proposed acquisition in December 2020, its execs began hinting about problems at Aerojet. At a June 2021 Bernstein investor conference, Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet questioned whether Aerojet’s private-equity owners had “the will or the financial capacity” to invest in the company.

“We want and need…a healthier Aerojet Rocketdyne,” Taiclet said at the time. “It's a great asset, but we can make it greater based on our ability to invest, our engineering expertise that we can deliver to it, [and] our production system that we can work with and our digital transformation, which we can apply to Aerojet Rocketdyne.”

Hayes said Pentagon officials “at the highest level” were aware of Aerojet’s problems.

In June, shortly before Aerojet’s boardroom battle ended, Andrew Hunter, the U.S. Air Force’s top acquisition official, said Pentagon officials were eager to hear the company’s future plans.

“The question is, what do they do now…What is the path ahead?” Hunter said on June 24. “We do need that path to become clearer and them to figure it out.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.