MELBOURNE, Fla., April 8, 2026 — L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) congratulates the government and civilian team recognized by the Department of War with the 2025 David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award. This award recognized the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) on its Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) program.
Together with the MDA, L3Harris designed and built the HBTSS Phase IIb prototype, which successfully performed in orbit and proved its ability to provide fire-control-quality tracking against hypersonic threats. This successful prototype demonstration informed HBTSS’ subsequent operational capability.
“HBTSS is not a future promise – it is a proven capability. Working closely with the MDA Space Capabilities team, we moved with urgency, to deliver a system that can detect and track advanced missile threats from space, including hypersonic missiles,” said Paul Wloszek, Vice President & General Manager, Spectral Systems, Space & Mission Systems, L3Harris. “This award recognizes a team that remains focused on what matters most – delivering a new warfighting capability that is tested, validated and ready to defend the nation.”
Last year, MDA confirmed the L3Harris HBTSS satellite uniquely demonstrated tracking against a live hypersonic target, providing the latency and high-fidelity track quality required to enable end-to-end missile defense.
The recognition comes as the focus on space-based missile defense intensifies. Recent policy direction calls for accelerating deployment of HBTSS as a foundational element of a homeland defense architecture – reinforcing the need for proven, ready-now capabilities rather than developmental concepts.
L3Harris’ successful on-orbit demonstration positions the company to deliver the HBTSS capability at speed and scale to ensure the United States stays ahead of evolving hypersonic threats.
About L3Harris Technologies
L3Harris is the Trusted Disruptor in defense tech. With customers’ mission-critical needs always in mind, our employees deliver end-to-end technology solutions connecting the space, air, land, sea and cyber domains in the interest of national security. Visit L3Harris.com for more information.
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