The US military on Monday awarded Raytheon (RTX) a $22.9 billion contract to substantially increase production of Tomahawk cruise missiles, the Pentagon announced, citing concerns about depleted weapons inventories following arms transfers to allies and use of munitions in the Iran conflict.
US military awards Raytheon $22.9 billion contract to expand Tomahawk missile output
The US military on Monday awarded Raytheon (RTX) a $22.9 billion contract to substantially increase production of Tomahawk cruise missiles, the Pentagon announced, citing concerns about depleted weapons inventories following arms transfers to allies and use of munitions in the Iran conflict.
Raytheon said the contract will run for seven years and will raise annual Tomahawk production to more than 1,000 missiles, up from the company's current rate of 60 per year.
The sea-launched Tomahawk is described as a mainstay of the Navy's surface fleet, providing long-range precision strike capability against land targets from ships and submarines.
Monday's formal contract firms up a framework agreement the US military and Raytheon signed in February.
The Trump administration has been brokering multi-year contracts with major US defense companies to give them confidence to invest in new facilities and equipment. Earlier in August, the military signed separate deals to ramp up production of Patriot and THAAD interceptor missile parts.
- The source does not state the specific quantity of Tomahawk missiles the contract obligates Raytheon to deliver.
- The source does not specify which facilities or capital investments Raytheon plans to make to achieve the production increase.
- The source does not detail the scale of Tomahawk inventory depletion that prompted the contract.
- The source does not state Raytheon's own comment or response beyond the production figures cited in its separate statement.
- The source does not identify which allies received US arms supplies or the quantities involved.
Read the original at The Jerusalem Post