U.S. Air Force – The Pentagon awarded approximately $7.8 billion in missile production contracts to two major defense suppliers, Lockheed Martin and RTX Corporation, in late July, funding the procurement of thousands of munitions for U.S. military services and a wide range of international partners.
Big-ticket AMRAAM Award to RTX
RTX secured about $3.5 billion for production of the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile, reportedly the largest single award in the AMRAAM program’s history. The package also covers telemetry systems and engineering support. The AMRAAM is a lightweight, versatile missile used primarily for air-to-air engagements from a broad range of fighter aircraft; it can also be adapted for ground-launch air-defense roles. The weapon is valued for its high-altitude and low-altitude performance, as well as its ability to intercept challenging, maneuvering targets.
Global Customers for AMRAAMs
The contract extends beyond U.S. forces: dozens of allied nations across Europe, the Indo-Pacific, and the Middle East are slated to receive AMRAAM stocks. European purchasers named include the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Hungary, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, and Finland, with Ukraine and Switzerland also listed. Indo-Pacific partners, including Australia, Japan, and Taiwan, are slated to be equipped, while Israel and Kuwait are among the Middle Eastern recipients.
Lockheed Win: JASSM and LRASM Production
Lockheed Martin was awarded approximately $4.3 billion to produce two long-range strike systems: the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM). Both will serve U.S. Air Force and Navy inventories and be supplied to allies, including Poland, the Netherlands, Finland, and Japan.
The JASSM is a low-observable cruise missile with a range exceeding 500 nautical miles, GPS navigation hardened against jamming, and a penetrating warhead of roughly 1,000 pounds, optimized for precision strikes against hardened land targets.
The LRASM is a semi-autonomous anti-ship weapon built to engage maritime targets from beyond enemy defensive ranges. Capable of subsonic transit and advanced in-flight target-selection and maneuvering, the Navy has described LRASM as a next-generation offensive anti-surface capability.
Strategic Context
Together, the awards underscore the continued U.S. investment in long-range strike and air defense capabilities, while expanding allied access to these systems, a move that strengthens collective deterrence and interoperability among partner air forces and navies.
Adapted from the MT
