L3Harris Supplies First Skyraider II Military Jet to U.S. Air Force

L3Harris Technologies, Inc. LHX, along with Air Tractor, a top producer of purpose-built aircraft, has made the delivery of the first missionized OA-1K Skyraider II aircraft to the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command. This should boost LHX’s first-quarter 2025 revenue performance.

The Skyraider II is an example of L3Harris' dedication to providing flexible, affordable solutions that satisfy the changing demands of aerial warfighter.

More About LHX’s Skyraider II Aircraft

The Skyraider II is based on L3Harris' multi-purpose OA-1 Sky Warden aircraft, which can be configured to perform a wide range of missions, including close air support, precision strikes and armed intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, for the United States and allied forces.

This aircraft's versatility will enable SOF to counter rivals throughout the whole spectrum of military operations. The aircraft's design allows it to operate from difficult and isolated airfields.

These features might attract more customers to select this aircraft, thereby ushering in contract flows for L3Harris. Notably, the company is on track to deliver more follow-on Skyraider II aircraft.

L3Harris’ Growth Potential

Rising military conflicts, terrorism and border disputes, along with rapid technological advancements in combat jets, have led nations to increase their defense spending on combat-proven jets, which constitute an integral part of their defense structure. This is likely to have prompted the Mordor Intelligence firm to forecast a compound annual growth rate of 4.7% for the global military aviation market in 2025-2030.

Such solid market growth opportunities should benefit L3Harris, which is a major supplier of innovative, dependable and cost-effective avionic systems and equipment that have been tested on a wide range of aircraft platforms, including the F-35 Lightning II and F/A-18 Super Hornet. The company also offers more than 35 years of cutting-edge mission system processing and networking capabilities to integrated core processors for fighter jets.

Opportunities for Other Stocks

Other defense companies that are likely to reap the benefits of the strength in the global military aviation market are listed below:

The Boeing Company BA: The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of the most advanced aircraft in the combat market, which includes F/A-18 Super Hornet, F-15EX, CH-47 Chinook, Chinook Block II and EA-18G Growler.

Boeing boasts a long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate of 17.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BA’s 2025 sales suggests an improvement of 25.7% from the 2024 reported figure.

Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT: The company is among the leaders in the combat aircraft space, with its product portfolio constituting some of the most advanced military aircraft, such as the F-35 Lightning II, F-21, F-22 Raptor and F-16 Fighting Falcon.

Lockheed boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 10.6%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LMT’s 2025 sales implies an improvement of 4.6% from the 2024 reported figure.

Embraer S.A. ERJ: The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of the most advanced aircraft in the combat market, which includes the A-29 Super Tucano, P600 AEW&C and the C-390 Millennium military multi-mission aircraft.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ERJ’s 2025 sales indicates growth of 15.1% from the prior-year reported number. The company delivered an average earnings surprise of 138.39% in the last four quarters.

LHX Stock Price Movement

In the past three months, L3Harris shares have risen 2.8% compared with the industry’s growth of 12.2%.

L3Harris’ Zacks Rank

LHX currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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