By Mike Stone
WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Reuters) – RTX’s Raytheon unit won a multiyear contract worth up to $24.4 billion to produce Standard Missile-6 interceptors for the US Navy, the service said on Thursday, as the Pentagon pushes to replenish munitions stockpiles depleted by conflicts in the Middle East.
The five-year contract, which includes two additional option years, the Navy said, is meant to provide a steady and reliable supply of the SM-6, a missile that can carry out both offensive strikes and missile defense missions.
The SM-6 award is the latest in a series of large munitions contracts the Pentagon has pursued this year to pressure contractors into ramping up output faster. It follows a $20.7 billion provisional multiyear deal for Raytheon’s AMRAAM air-to-air missiles in late September and a $58.6 billion Patriot interceptor deal awarded to Lockheed Martin in July.
The production agreements are designed to entice contractors to. move faster on increasing output. They are part of a broader push by the Trump administration to prioritize weapons production over shareholder returns.
Industry executives have warned that Congress has not yet appropriated funding for the deals, meaning contractors may be unable to invest at scale in components and facilities until lawmakers act.
RTX has said it has invested heavily to keep up with rising demand. It has expanded its skilled workforce, strengthened partnerships across the defense industrial base and automated production, with the aim of significantly increasing output for near- and long-term needs.
Raytheon says the SM-6 is the only combat-proven weapon that can perform anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare and ballistic missile defense. It has been fired from a range of Navy ships as well as from land-based launchers.
(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Nia Williams and Stephen Coates)
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