Firehawk Defense, a Dallas startup that makes rocket propellant and motors for artillery and missiles, raised more than $150 million in a round that values it at over $1.4 billion, as investors bet on shortages of basic munitions.
The oversubscribed Series D was co-led by Advent and Rochefort Asset Management, the firm founded by investor Kyle Bass, with new and existing investors and strategic partners also participating. Firehawk, which recently changed its name from Firehawk Aerospace, raised a $60 million Series C in September 2025. Its earlier backers include 1789 Capital, the venture firm linked to Donald Trump Jr.
Hours instead of weeks
Traditional solid propellant is mixed, cast and cured in batches over a period of weeks. Firehawk instead uses a continuous thermoplastic process that produces energetic feedstock in hours, which can then be molded, extruded or 3D printed into propellant grains. The company focuses on high-volume, small-diameter products, including base-bleed motors that extend the range of 155mm artillery shells, rocket-assisted takeoff motors and the Hydra-70 rocket, which is increasingly paired with guidance kits as a low-cost defense against drones.
The money will expand Firehawk’s 320-acre production site in Lawton, Okla., and its missile integration facility in Crawford, Miss. The company expects the Oklahoma plant to reach low-rate production by mid-2027 and says that by the end of that year it aims to be the largest U.S. producer of artillery motors and the third-largest producer of propellant.
Challenging the incumbents
U.S. solid rocket motor production has long been dominated by L3Harris and Northrop Grumman. Firehawk signed a teaming agreement in May with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems to develop and produce 155mm base-bleed motors and plans to sell to allied countries while it goes through a qualification process with the U.S. Army, which can take 12 to 18 months.
