Raytheon, a business unit of RTX (NYSE: RTX), has been awarded a contract worth up to $24.4 billion to produce Standard Missile-6 interceptors for the U.S. Navy.
The deal spans five years with two additional option years, making it one of the largest munitions contracts awarded to a single defense contractor in recent memory.
The agreement builds on prior landmark deals struck between Raytheon and the Department of War, ensuring a consistent and reliable long-term supply of the combat-proven weapon system.
SM-6 is notable for being the only combat-proven weapon capable of performing anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare, and ballistic missile defense within a single platform.
The missile has been successfully fired from multiple U.S. Navy ship-based platforms as well as land-based launchers, giving naval commanders a highly versatile weapon against a broad range of kinetic threats.
Raytheon President Phil Jasper emphasized the importance of meeting growing customer demand as geopolitical tensions continue to drive requirements for advanced missile defense capabilities.
“SM-6’s multi-mission capability is vital to our customer, and Raytheon is intensely focused on meeting the demand,” said Jasper.
“By continuously investing in our operations and facilities, we are removing constraints and boosting capacity to ensure we deliver this critical capability our sailors depend on,” Jasper added.
To support the contract’s ambitious production targets, Raytheon has been expanding its skilled workforce, deepening partnerships across the defense industrial base, and automating key manufacturing processes.
These investments are designed to remove production bottlenecks and position Raytheon to support significantly higher output over both near-term and long-term timelines.
RTX, the Arlington, Virginia-based parent company of Raytheon, employs more than 180,000 people globally and reported 2025 sales of more than $88 billion across its aerospace and defense portfolio.
The company has spent more than a century developing and enhancing capabilities across integrated air and missile defense, smart weapons, advanced sensors, hypersonics, and space-based systems for U.S. and allied customers.
Shares of RTX edged lower by 0.34% on the day the contract announcement was made public, though analysts broadly view large multi-year government awards as a stabilizing force for long-term revenue visibility.
