L3Harris Technologies has appointed Sam Mehta as its new president and chief executive officer, effective immediately, following the departure of Christopher Kubasik.
The announcement, issued by the company’s board on 17 August 2026, comes after an internal review determined that Kubasik, who served as Chairman, CEO, and board member, had allegedly engaged in behaviour “not consistent” with L3Harris’ Code of Conduct.
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According to the company’s statement, the conduct in question was unrelated to L3Harris’ financial reporting, controls, customer relationships, or operational performance.
The board undertook an investigation with the support of independent legal counsel before deciding to implement a leadership transition.
The board and Kubasik mutually agreed to a separation agreement, the company said.
L3Harris’ lead independent director, Lewis Hay III said: “Chris has overseen significant transformation during his tenure at L3Harris, and he has built a strong team to carry the business forward.
“However, our values guide the actions we take each day as The Trusted Disruptor and are at the centre of everything we do. The Board and Chris have agreed that implementing our succession plan today is the right thing to do. We thank him for his service.”
Sam Mehta, who joined L3Harris in 2023, brings more than 25 years of aerospace and defence industry experience and previously served as president of the company’s Space & Mission Systems (SMS) and Communications & Spectrum Dominance (CSD) business segments.
These areas comprise over 80% of L3Harris’ total revenue, the firm noted.
Before joining L3Harris, Sam served as the president of Advanced Structures for Collins Aerospace, a business unit of RTX.
Mehta said: “I look forward to working even more closely with my fellow senior leaders and my talented colleagues across the Company to support the needs of our country and our allies.
“Today, L3Harris has a portfolio purpose-built for the future of warfare, and we are well-positioned to continue executing our focused growth strategy as The Trusted Disruptor.”
The leadership transition also includes appointments of Lewis Hay III as the independent chairman of the Board, Lauren Barnes as president of SMS and Christopher Aebli as president of CSD.
Kenneth Bedingfield remains President of Missile Solutions, with L3Harris reaffirming its ongoing $3bn capital investment to expand solid rocket motor production and reinforce its supply chain.
In conjunction with the executive changes, L3Harris stated it has reaffirmed its financial outlook for 2026, including consolidated revenue, organic growth, operating margin, GAAP earnings per share, and free cash flow.
In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, L3Harris reported $7.3bn in orders and achieved a book-to-bill ratio of 1.2, raising its backlog to a record $42bn.
