U.S. Pentagon Signs 7-Year Naval Missile Framework Deals to Speed Key Deliveries.

Raytheon, an RTX business, has secured five long-term framework agreements with the U.S. government to accelerate delivery and expand production of key precision missiles. The move reflects mounting demand driven by sustained operations, allied resupply, and the need to restore U.S. and partner stockpiles at scale.

Raytheon announced on 4 February 2026 that it has entered into five framework agreements with the Pentagon designed to speed deliveries and boost manufacturing capacity for some of Washington’s most heavily requested precision munitions. According to the company, the agreements cover the Tomahawk cruise missile, AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, Standard Missile-3 Block IB, Standard Missile-3 Block IIA, and Standard Missile-6, with contract structures allowing orders to be placed over a period of up to seven years.
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RTX Raytheon expands production of Tomahawk, AMRAAM, SM-3, and SM-6 missiles under new U.S. agreements. (Picture source: RTX)

RTX presents the move as a response to global demand and as an extension of earlier capacity investments. Under the new frameworks, the company plans to raise the annual output of Tomahawk missiles to more than 1,000 rounds, AMRAAM to at least 1,900, and SM-6 to more than 500, while also increasing SM-3 IIA production and accelerating SM-3 IB deliveries. Several lines are expected to grow by two to four times compared with current rates. Manufacturing is distributed across Raytheon sites in Tucson, Arizona, Huntsville, Alabama, and Andover, Massachusetts, reflecting both industrial scaling and a deliberate effort to harden supply continuity through geographic dispersion.

Tomahawk remains one of the U.S. Navy’s central long-range strike options, fielded in both land-attack and maritime strike variants. RTX states the missile can strike targets from 1,000 miles away and emphasizes a mature operational pedigree, citing more than 550 flight tests and over 2,300 uses in operational environments. In practice, this blend of reach, accuracy, and repeated employment makes Tomahawk a tool not only for punitive strikes but also for shaping an adversary’s planning cycle, forcing dispersal and defensive expenditure even before contact.

AMRAAM continues to underpin allied air-to-air lethality while also feeding ground-based air defense architectures. Raytheon notes it has been producing a “fifth-generation AMRAAM” since 2024, featuring advanced guidance, software-defined capabilities, and enhanced electronic protection designed for highly contested combat environments. The missile is integrated across fourth- and fifth-generation combat aircraft and serves as the primary interceptor for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), linking air superiority requirements with homeland and expeditionary point defense missions. RTX also points to more than 6,000 test shots and 13 air-to-air combat victories, reinforcing the missile’s status as a combat-validated standard rather than a purely theoretical capability.

On the missile defense side, the agreements target both depth and pace of replenishment for the SM-3 family. Raytheon describes SM-3 IB as an exo-atmospheric interceptor optimized for hit-to-kill engagements against short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles, and deployable from both ships and land-based sites. RTX highlights April 2024 as a key operational reference point, when SM-3 IB is first used in combat to intercept Iranian ballistic missiles headed toward Israeli targets. SM-3 IIA, developed through a cooperative program involving the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and Japan’s Ministry of Defense, incorporates larger rocket motors and an enhanced kinetic warhead compared to earlier variants, enabling faster engagements and a larger defended footprint against ballistic threats.

SM-6 rounds out the portfolio as a multi-role missile that compresses several mission sets into one weapon family. Raytheon states it supports anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare, and sea-based terminal ballistic missile defense in a single solution, and notes that it has been successfully fired from U.S. Navy ships as well as land-based launchers. That flexibility matters because it allows commanders to adapt magazine composition to evolving threat mixes, even as shipboard vertical launch system capacity remains finite and contested across competing mission demands.

Expanded production changes force resilience in any high-intensity scenario where strike and interceptor inventories are consumed quickly. Higher Tomahawk output supports sustained deep-strike options and maritime strike pressure at distance, complicating adversary dispersal and reinforcing deterrence by denial. Expanded AMRAAM throughput strengthens air policing, combat air patrol endurance, and allied attrition tolerance, particularly for air forces that lack the industrial base to regenerate stocks independently. Increased SM-3 capacity improves ballistic missile defense magazine depth for Aegis-equipped ships and land sites, while higher SM-6 production provides a versatile layer that can be allocated across air defense, surface threats, and terminal ballistic trajectories depending on operational priorities and theater geometry.

Beyond production figures, the agreements highlight how industrial capacity is increasingly treated as a component of deterrence posture. For allies and partners, predictable multi-year output reduces uncertainty in replenishment planning and strengthens interoperability by keeping shared missile families available at scale. For competitors, the message is structural rather than rhetorical: the United States is investing not only in advanced platforms but also in the production depth required to sustain prolonged operations across multiple theaters. As precision munitions shape escalation ladders and campaign tempo, manufacturing throughput becomes part of the balance of power, influencing international security calculations well before any missile is launched.