By Mike Stone
WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Reuters) – The US Navy said on Thursday it had awarded RTX’s Raytheon unit a multiyear contract worth up to $24.4 billion to produce Standard Missile-6 interceptors for the US Navy, 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 missiles in late September and a $58.6 billion Patriot interceptor deal awarded to Lockheed Martin in July.
(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Nia Williams)
