By George Kaminsky

Raytheon, an RTX business, has secured a five-year contract with two additional option years valued at up to $6.3 billion for the production and sustainment of Standard Missile-3 Block IB interceptors, the company announced October 8.

The award is part of the larger agreements Raytheon recently reached with the Department of War and is meant to replenish missile defense inventory that Raytheon says has been used successfully in combat. Production will be done primarily at Raytheon facilities in Tucson, Arizona, and Huntsville, Alabama.

The SM-3 Block IB is a ship- and land-based interceptor designed to defeat short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles during the midcourse phase of flight, when the threat is above the atmosphere.

The deal follows other large multiyear munitions agreements this year. In July the Army expanded a Lockheed Martin contract for PAC-3 MSE interceptors to a seven-year total of up to $58.62 billion. That award is undefinitized, meaning values and quantities can still change, and industry executives have said Congress must appropriate funding before companies invest more heavily in capacity.

Raytheon’s announcement does not say how many SM-3 IB interceptors the contract covers or when deliveries will begin. Those details will show how quickly the stockpile can actually be rebuilt.

Sources: Raytheon release via EDR Magazine; Breaking Defense; Defense News.