US awards Raytheon $22.9 billion deal to boost Tomahawk production

The US military has awarded Raytheon, a unit of RTX, a $22.9 billion seven-year contract to significantly increase production of Tomahawk cruise missiles as Washington moves to replenish stocks of precision-guided weapons.

The US military has supplied large quantities of weapons to allies while also using munitions in the conflict with Iran, raising concerns over its inventories of air defence and precision-guided weapons, Caliber.Az reports via British media.

"We called on industry to rapidly scale up munitions output, ​and RTX is delivering," Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao said in an X post.

"This landmark Tomahawk contract ensures our warfighters continue ​to have the lethal firepower they need."

Raytheon said the contract would enable annual Tomahawk production to rise to more than 1,000 missiles, up from about 60 currently.

The sea-launched Tomahawk is used by the US Navy's surface ships and submarines to carry out long-range precision strikes against land targets.

The contract formalises a framework agreement reached between the US military and Raytheon in February.

The administration of President Donald Trump has been pursuing multi-year agreements with major US defence contractors, giving companies greater confidence to invest in new production facilities and equipment.

Earlier this month, the US military also signed agreements aimed at increasing production of components for Patriot and THAAD interceptor missiles.

By Aghakazim Guliyev