In the hanger at L3Harris sits a Boeing 737 aircraft, but this airplane isn’t going to be carrying passengers. This is the first overhauled P-8A Poseidon as part of L3’s five-year contract with the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) that will see repair and overhaul of the fleet of 135 aircrafts.
On July 10, 2025, less than 10 months after receiving the contract in September 2024, L3 delivered the first completed aircraft with a second scheduled to be delivered the following day and the third following shortly after. The contract lasts through September 2029, and a total of nine aircrafts are expected to be completed this first year.
“What we do on this program is, we bring the aircraft in, we follow through a series of inspections, disassemble much of the aircraft to reach all critical points and make sure that we’ve inspected and repaired all those critical items, then reinstall and paint the aircraft completely,” explained L3Harris Waco Vice President and General Manager of Sean Ling.
The P-8A Poseidon’s mission is maritime surveillance. Using a series of sensors, sonobuoys (a sonar buoy dropped from the aircraft) and other systems, it’s able to detect and destroy submarines.
“Its job is to basically keep the water safe worldwide, based on what our U.S. Navy needs to do,” said Jason Lambert, president of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) at L3Harris.
A ceremony was held in the hangar to celebrate this monumental moment. Timely delivery of completed aircraft supports the readiness goals of the U.S. Navy. Members of the U.S. Navy and Naval Air Force were in attendance, notably Commander John Martinez, Executive Officer of VP30, Lieutenant Commanders Anthony Berens and Issac Medina and Master Chief Avionics Technician Benjamin Pickett. Bellmead and McGregor city managers, members of the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce and students from both Baylor University and TSTC were also in attendance.
This isn’t the first contract that L3 has completed for the U.S. Navy. The company has delivered sustainment and modification for the P-8’s predecessor, the P-3 Orion, for decades. L3 has also been awarded contracts from other entities, several from U.S. military branches — U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Air Force — as well as private entities and the recent contract with NASA in which L3 will overhaul a Boeing 777 into their new flying laboratory (read about it in our March Waco Chat with Ling).
“This program is exactly the kind of programs that we want to bring here,” Ling said at the ceremony. “Multi-year, multi-aircraft programs that provide stable work.”
In order to complete the overhaul of the P-8A fleet, a team of 100 aviation experts worked on the craft, “and [we are] growing as we continue to bring more aircraft in,” said Ling.
Most recently, L3 announced their contract with the Moroccan Air Force upgrading multiple C-130 aircraft which the company has had plenty of previous experience with.
“Again, a several year program that will provide jobs for a number of employees for years to come,” Ling emphasized.
To complete the overhaul of the P-8A, L3Harris worked closely with the U.S. Navy.
“We have Navy folks and U.S. government inspectors that are part of that process,” said Lambert. “We’re working very collaboratively with them, hand-in-hand, not just on the maintenance process and being able to get the aircraft back to the fleet to service them, but downstream, if there’s an upgrade needed, or there’s some technology that the Navy is looking at or requiring, we can actively support the Navy’s mission for those upgrades.”
With a powerhouse staff of over 900 in Waco alone, as well as timely delivery, L3Harris maintains trust that will bring future contracts and future employment opportunities.
“The jobs of aircraft technicians, of the engineers, of the program managers that we have for these programs are highly-skilled, quality, good paying jobs that we’re able to leverage at our local education institutes at TSTC and Baylor University and surrounding universities to provide great job opportunities for our young and entering the workforce employees, while also leveraging a number of U.S. veterans to support our programs and other professionals,” Ling explained.
And contracts such as the one with the U.S. Navy are enticing for young graduates.
“What we’re trying to do there is make sure we have our name out there and people recognize that we are growing,” Ling said. “We have job opportunities. We are working with TSTC, certainly looking to bring some of their aviation graduates on and get them into our workforce. And we’ll be doing the same with Baylor.”
“Based on how the team executes here and meets our commitments, the Navy will actually bring additional airplanes right here for the Waco workforce to be able to continue to work on,” Lambert said. “So the team is very dedicated and motivated to perform for our Navy customer and continue to grow for the workforce here in Waco.”
