L3Harris appoints new CFO as firm prepares to spin off missile business

WASHINGTON — L3Harris has appointed former Peraton finance chief Kenneth Sharp as its new chief financial officer, as its current CFO takes over its missile business ahead of an initial public offering later this year.

Sharp will take the reins from current CFO Ken Bedingfield on March 16, as Bedingfield — who currently wears a second hat as the president of the company’s Missile Solutions segment — narrows his focus to that business ahead of its much-anticipated spin off in late 2026.

In a statement released today, Kubasik said that Sharp “brings relevant expertise, operational rigor, and a deep appreciation for the responsibility we carry in serving our customers and warfighters,” and that Bedingfield’s “experience, business knowledge and leadership will ensure accelerated production of solid rocket motors for critical defense programs.”

Sharp, a 30-year fixture of the defense finance world, was previously CFO of IT services company DXC, and also held the top finance position for Northrop Grumman’s defense systems division. A Marine Corps veteran, he served in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

“I am honored to join L3Harris at such an important time for the company and the industry,” said Sharp. “L3Harris has an exceptional portfolio of mission-critical technologies and a strong commitment to innovation. I look forward to working alongside Chris and the leadership team to support our customers’ missions and creating long-term value for all our stakeholders.”

During an investors day held last week, L3Harris CEO Chris Kubasik said the Defense Department’s promised $1 billion investment into the missile solutions spinoff would give the company the confidence to invest billions of its own dollars to modernize the facilities it currently uses to build solid rocket motors and missile components.  

“I think it’ll be interesting to see the valuation that this asset gets as we IPO it, because I believe the growth is undervalued and underappreciated,” he said. “But we’ll see what the market says.”

Bedingfield, who will oversee the IPO, said last week that once the spinoff is complete, he anticipates the missile business will grow from $3.8 billion in 2025 to about $6.3 billion in 2028.

“We have over 200 buildings today. We’re going to bring about 60 more online, and we are absolutely embracing AI in terms of how we ensure the quality control of our production,” he said last week. “And we’re certainly going to be embracing robotics and automation as we bring the new factories online.”