Raytheon snags $8.41 billion contract modification for missile defense work
The Tucson-based missile manufacturing operation of Raytheon racked up a number of multibillion-dollar contracts in 2025, and this past week provided an indication that momentum is set to continue.
The U.S. military’s Missile Defense Agency on March 18 announced that it awarded Raytheon an $8.41 billion contract modification that boosted the ceiling of an original deal to make missile interceptors, awarded in 2020, from $3.33 billion to more than $11.74 billion.
This contract covers support services for Standard Missile-3 Block missile variants for the U.S. and foreign partners. The modification calls for work to be continue through October 29, 2029.
The work under this deal will take place at Raytheon’s operations in Tucson and in Alabama, where the company recently completed a $115 million, 26,000 square-foot expansion of its Redstone Raytheon Missile Integration Facility.
The Standard Missile-3 is an interceptor, or a defensive weapon, that can be fired from ships or land to destroy intermediate-range ballistic missiles using force rather than explosive warheads, Raytheon says it hits its targets with the force of a 10-ton truck traveling 600 mph.
Variants of the SM-3 are being tested and deployed as well — one, the SM-3 Block IB, with infrared seekers and upgraded steering and propulsion capabilities, and another, the SM-3 Block IIA, with a larger rocket motor to cover wider areas and equipped with enhanced tracking functions.
Raytheon scored nearly $56B in contracts last year
Raytheon secured a staggering $55.46 billion in contracts during fiscal 2025, according to Business Journal research, making it the money leader among Arizona’s defense contractors. In February, Raytheon announced that it hammered out a series of agreements with the U.S. Department of War to supercharge production capacity and deliveries of five key munitions — among them the SM-3 variants.
In addition to the latest deal, Raytheon last week was also awarded a separate $266,912,456 contract modification for SM-3 Block IB production, bringing the value of the original $1.099 billion contract awarded in 2024 to more than $1.365 billion.
While Raytheon continues to produce and develop the SM-3, it also late last month received approval from the U.S. Navy for a separate missile — the StormBreaker smart weapon — to be used on F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighters.
The StormBreaker was developed to engage moving and stationary targets even in adverse weather conditions. It is approved for use on the F-15E and the F/A-18-E/F Super Hornet, and is currently being integrated on the F-35A/B/C, Raytheon said.
Separately, another contract modification awarded by the Navy to Raytheon’s Tucson operation in the past month was for $10,762,308, to exercise options related to the rolling airframe missile. All of the work in that award will be performed in Tucson and is expected to be completed by March 2028.