Defense propulsion manufacturer Firehawk Defense (formerly Firehawk Aerospace) has finalized an oversubscribed $150+ million Series D funding round, elevating the company’s valuation past $1.4 billion.
Co-led by global private equity firm Advent International and Rochefort Asset Management (co-founded by Dallas investor Kyle Bass), the round expands Firehawk’s manufacturing infrastructure across its primary sites: its Great Plains Arsenal propellant plant in Lawton, Oklahoma, and its rocket system integration facility in Crawford, Mississippi. Engineered to resolve chronic bottlenecking in U.S. and Allied solid rocket motor (SRM) supply chains, Firehawk replaces traditional “cast-and-cure” chemical processing with a continuous, automated 3D-printed thermoplastic manufacturing platform. The capital injection supports a commercial agreement with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS) to produce over 100,000 base-bleed artillery motors annually, alongside high-rate assembly of 70mm Hydra-70 tactical rockets for the U.S. Army.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS: FIREHAWK THERMOPLASTIC PROPULSION & PRODUCTION INFRASTRUCTURE
Corporate Financing, Lead Investors & Valuation Dynamics
⚡ Investment Round: $150+ Million USD Series D (Upsized and oversubscribed from $100M target)
⚡ Post-Money Valuation: >$1.4 Billion USD
⚡ Co-Lead Investors: Advent International & Rochefort Asset Management
⚡ Capital Allocation: Scale Lawton, OK propellant plant; expand Crawford, MS missile integration lines; fund West Texas static-fire testing grounds
⚡ Key Commercial Agreements: Teaming agreement with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS) for 155mm base-bleed motors; U.S. Army OTA Hydra-70 rocket prototype contract 
Propulsion Technology & Thermoplastic Manufacturing Architecture
💥 Manufacturing Process Innovation: Replaces legacy energetic “cast-and-cure” chemical curing (which requires weeks of vacuum-mixing and heated cure cycles) with a continuous 3D-printed thermoplastic manufacturing method
💥 Energetic Formulation: Thermoplastic solid propellant grain engineered for high impulse density, high structural integrity, and reduced sensitivity to thermal cracking
💥 Scale-Up Capacity Baseline: Lawton, OK facility commissioning early 2027 with initial capacity of 740,000 lbs/year of thermoplastic propellant, scalable to 3.1+ million lbs/year
💥 Safety & Production Acceleration: Automated continuous extrusion reduces human handling of live energetics, shortening manufacturing lead times from months to days
Armament Product Lines & Tactical Systems Integration
🚀 155mm Base-Bleed Motors: Specialized base-bleed grain modules developed with GD-OTS to extend standard 155mm artillery projectile range by filling the low-pressure vacuum behind the shell during flight
🚀 Hydra-70 70mm Tactical Rockets: Complete rocket motor integration for unguided/guided (APKWS) 70mm rockets; Crawford, MS plant expanding integration capacity from 40,000 to 120,000 rounds/year
🚀 Testing & Flight Validation: Successfully completed a 6-for-6 Hydra-70 live-fire demonstration at Yuma Proving Ground, AZ (August 2026) under U.S. Army OTA guidelines
🚀 High-Altitude & Air-Breathing Systems: Active U.S. Air Force development contracts for custom tactical solid rocket motors and hybrid launch systems
TIMES OF DEFENCE ASSESSMENT
Firehawk Defense’s $1.4B valuation reflects the urgent need to rebuild Western solid rocket motor (SRM) manufacturing capacity. High-intensity conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have highlighted a key industrial vulnerability: legacy SRM production relies on a small number of suppliers using slow, batch-based “cast-and-cure” processes.
From an engineering and defense industrial perspective, Firehawk’s continuous manufacturing approach offers critical operational advantages:
1. **Breaking the Cast-and-Cure Bottleneck**: Traditional solid rocket motors require pouring liquid propellant binders into molds, followed by days or weeks of high-temperature curing. Firehawk’s automated 3D-printed thermoplastic process eliminates long curing cycles, allowing rapid scaling of motor production for Hydra-70 rockets and 155mm base-bleed artillery rounds.
2. **Expanding Artillery Range via Base-Bleed Supply**: Extended-range 155mm artillery shells require base-bleed propellant units to reduce base drag during flight. Partnering with General Dynamics to supply over 100,000 base-bleed units annually helps resolve a supply constraint affecting U.S. and NATO artillery stockpiles.
3. **Transition from R&D to High-Volume Production**: Transitioning from prototype flight testing at Yuma to full-rate production facilities in Lawton, OK, and Crawford, MS, positions Firehawk as a viable secondary supplier alongside traditional defense primes. This provides the U.S. military with expanded domestic propulsion capacity.
