L3Harris Wins $60 Million Air Force Award for C-HOBS Proximity Sensors

L3Harris Technologies has received a U.S. Air Force contract valued at approximately $60 million to continue production of its DSU-43/B Cockpit Selectable Height of Burst Sensors (C-HOBS), the company announced September 14, 2026, in a press release datelined Melbourne, Florida.

Production of the sensors will take place at the company’s site in Cincinnati. L3Harris said it is increasing proximity fuze and sensor production capacity to help meet the U.S. military’s growing demand for what the company described as cost-effective, proven counter-threat solutions.

According to L3Harris, the C-HOBS technology allows aircrews to choose the precise detonation altitude, helping them tailor a munition’s effect to different targets and mission environments. The company said the sensors deliver improved radar-guided performance, manual and cockpit-selectable burst heights, and advanced sensing features.

“C-HOBS is an important part of ensuring warfighters have modern, reliable and adaptable capabilities,” said Scott Alexander, President, Propulsion Systems, Missile Solutions, L3Harris. “As we continue to increase production capacity to support a wartime footing, L3Harris’ long history of fuzing innovation ensures we are ready to meet our customers’ needs today and into the future.”

From 2013 Army SBIR to Air Force Production

Proximity sensors are critical in determining the height and timing at which ordnance detonates, according to a Defense Department document recounting the technology’s development. Earlier systems relied on a circuit that would be tripped to set off the detonation, effectively creating a sphere around the weapon that triggered an explosion when crossed. That approach could be defeated by complex terrain, weather, or anti-munitions devices, the document states, so the Army issued a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) solicitation in 2013 calling for the next generation of precision end-game proximity sensors.

That call was answered by Mustang Technology Group, a Plano, Texas-based small business that is now part of L3Harris. Mustang’s solution was a new class of proximity sensor based on digital profile signaling, which profiles the ground near the munition as well as the intended target and uses those calculations to determine when to detonate. The document states the technology was reprogrammable, meaning it could be fitted to the needs of different military branches or weapons, and Mustang named the resulting technology Cockpit-Selectable Height-of-Burst Sensor, or C-HOBS.

Michael Stephens, senior fellow in engineering at L3Harris, said in the document that previous generations of proximity sensors set the height of burst before flight and could not change it once airborne, leaving aircrews without the optimum selection if a mission changed. “Now they can change it in flight, which will certainly give the pilots more flexibility,” he said.

The document lists SBIR contracts from the Army and Air Force across a 10-year period beginning in 2002, including the 2013 Army award (W15QKN-13-C-0055) that allowed Mustang to continue developing the sensors. Additional funding followed through the Air Force Rapid Innovation Fund, including a 2013 contract (FA8656-14-C-0171) for a Precision Selectable Height-of-Burst Sensor, and through Air Force follow-on contracts that helped bring the technology to production. The document identifies the DSU-43/B proximity sensor under contract number FA8213-19-D-0006 and states the company has supplied the system to the Army and Air Force, among others.

Fuze Production in Cincinnati

The Air Force award follows a June 3, 2026 announcement that the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division had awarded L3Harris a firm-fixed-price contract, with options, valued at up to $98 million to deliver the Mechanical Proximity Fuze for upgrades to the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System. That fuze is also referred to as the Fixed Wing, Air Launched, Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Ordnance (FALCO) Proximity Fuze, which the company said upgrades launch platforms into low-cost, effective counter-unmanned aerial system weapons.

L3Harris said in June that increased demand for FALCO fuzes was driving a sevenfold increase in proximity fuze production, and that investments in tooling, modernized inspection equipment and supplier expansion were expected to enable a twentyfold increase in capacity. The company said it has delivered advanced fuzes and safe-and-arm solutions for more than 70 years and produces the proximity fuzes in Cincinnati, Ohio.

On its Fuzing and Ordnance Systems page, L3Harris states that it designs and manufactures electronic safe and arm fuzes, ignition safety devices, mechanical and electro-mechanical fuzes, and height-of-burst and proximity sensors for the Department of War and international allies. The company says its fuzing work spans a 70-year legacy in which it has designed, qualified and manufactured millions of fuzing devices across platforms including air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, penetrators, artillery and mortar projectiles, rockets, and general-purpose bombs. According to the company, the Cincinnati facility can accommodate run rates of 40,000 units per month down to individual production units for development efforts and houses an on-site test lab for environmental test procedures.