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L3Harris Technologies has opened a new US$6 million ($8.5 million) maritime production facility in Rhode Island to accelerate the delivery of advanced undersea training systems for the US Navy and allied fleets, strengthening America’s undersea warfare industrial base.
L3Harris Technologies has opened a new 50,000-square-foot maritime production facility in Providence, Rhode Island, expanding its capacity to design, manufacture, integrate and test advanced undersea training systems for the US Navy and allied forces.
Located at ProvPort, the new facility represents a US$6 million investment and is intended to strengthen the US maritime industrial base while responding to growing demand for undersea warfare training and readiness capabilities.
The site will support the production, integration and testing of undersea training ranges, providing naval forces with systems designed to replicate increasingly complex underwater operating environments.
The expansion comes as the US and its allies place greater emphasis on undersea warfare capabilities amid growing competition beneath the world’s oceans.
Training infrastructure is a critical component of that effort, allowing submarine and anti-submarine warfare forces to develop tactics and validate systems against increasingly sophisticated underwater threats without relying solely on operational deployments.
L3Harris said the new facility will provide the production capacity required to deliver these capabilities at greater speed and scale.
“The demand for undersea training and readiness has never been greater, and this facility ensures we are positioned to meet that demand with the speed and scale our customers require,” said Nino DiCosmo, president, maritime, space and mission systems, L3Harris.
“ProvPort gives us a strategic advantage with its prime location and access to a highly skilled maritime workforce, and we are proud to deepen our commitment to Rhode Island.”
The new site also expands L3Harris’ longstanding presence in Rhode Island, where the company has operated since 1991. Its Ashaway facility produces undersea sensor systems and military sonar for the US Navy, giving the company an established industrial and engineering base in the state.
The ProvPort facility will further integrate L3Harris into Rhode Island’s broader maritime ecosystem through partnerships with local businesses, port operators and specialised service providers.
Among those partnerships is an arrangement with Waterson Terminal Services, which will provide local longshoremen expertise and port services, including support for offshore wind cable management.
US Senator Jack Reed, ranking member of the Senate armed services committee, said the investment would reinforce Rhode Island’s position within America’s undersea warfare sector.
“As L3Harris expands its presence here in the Ocean State, this new ProvPort facility will help strengthen Rhode Island’s leadership in undersea warfare technology and grow our state’s contributions to the defence industrial base.”
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said the facility represented another important investment in Rhode Island’s maritime economy, saying, “Rhode Island has long led the maritime defence industry through innovation. The new L3Harris facility at ProvPort is another promising investment in the Ocean State’s blue economy.”
The expansion is also expected to create additional highly skilled employment opportunities while strengthening links between L3Harris, local businesses and universities.
Representative Gabe Amo said the facility would simultaneously support workforce development and military readiness: “The new facility will support the development of highly skilled workers, improve undersea training for service members, and strengthen our nation’s security.”
The investment reflects the growing strategic importance of the undersea domain, where the US Navy and allied forces are seeking to maintain an advantage through improved sensing, training, surveillance and anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
For L3Harris, the new production facility provides additional capacity to support both US and allied naval customers while deepening the company’s role in the broader undersea warfare industrial base.
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