L3Harris Wins $70.8 Million Navy Modification, Its Largest Award to Date
The Millersville, Maryland, defense contractor will supply Navy equipment and engineering support through October 2029, surpassing its prior contract record of $58 million.
MILLERSVILLE, MARYLAND — L3Harris Corp., the Millersville, Maryland, defense contractor, won a $70.8 million Navy contract modification, its largest single award on record.
The firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee modification exercises options on a previously awarded contract for Navy equipment, components and engineering support, according to war.gov. The award surpasses the company’s previous record of $58 million, according to war.gov.
Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity, according to war.gov. The Navy did not provide a statement attributing the award to a named official.
Work will be split across three sites, with 57% performed in Millersville, Maryland, 40% in Liverpool, New York, and 3% in Ashaway, Rhode Island, according to war.gov. The effort is expected to be completed by October 2029.
The Navy tied specific funding streams to the award. Fiscal 2026 procurement funds cover $50.3 million, or 71%, while fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2025 shipbuilding and conversion funds each supply about $10.1 million, according to war.gov. Those funds were obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
The modification marks the fifth contract awarded to L3Harris in 2026, lifting the company’s total contract value for the year to $156.9 million, according to war.gov. It also stands as the 49th Department of Defense contract awarded in Maryland during 2026, one of six defense contracts issued nationwide on July 13, 2026.
The award benefits workers and suppliers in three states, anchoring engineering jobs across Maryland, upstate New York and Rhode Island through the decade. For taxpayers, the multiyear obligation locks in spending on Navy systems already under contract rather than opening a new competition.
The magnitude remains modest against the broader Navy portfolio. The 2026 Navy year-to-date range spans from a low of about $9 million to a high of $8 billion, placing this modification near the smaller end of the fleet’s procurement activity, according to war.gov.
For the average reader, the contract carries no direct bill, yet it reflects how the Pentagon sustains long-running equipment programs through options exercised on existing agreements rather than fresh purchases.
Has this happened before? It has, and often. Option modifications on standing contracts are a routine Pentagon tool, and L3Harris has collected four earlier awards in 2026 alone, though none reached this size, according to war.gov.
The next decision point rests with Naval Sea Systems Command, which will oversee performance and any future option exercises through the projected October 2029 completion. A date for the next award or modification has not been announced.
Option-driven defense awards have shaped American shipbuilding for generations, as happened before. During World War II, the U.S. Navy expanded its fleet from roughly 790 ships in 1941 to nearly 6,800 vessels by 1945 through waves of production contracts and options, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Yards from the East Coast to the Great Lakes surged to meet the demand, employing millions. The buildup left the United States with the largest navy the world had seen, a fleet that outlasted the war and defined naval power for the decades that followed.