US Navy awards RTX's Raytheon $24.4 billion contract for Standard Missile-6 amid stockpile concerns

​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.