Raytheon has secured a $6.3 billion, five‑year contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to produce Standard Missile‑3 Block IB interceptors, with production mainly at its plants in Tucson and in Huntsville, Alabama.
Raytheon’s Tucson facility will ramp up production of missile defense interceptors after the company secured a five-year contract with the Defense Department, the company announced Oct. 8.
The contract is valued at $6.3 billion and will produce Standard Missile-3 Block IB interceptors, or SM‑3 IB, the announcement said.
It’s part of a larger agreement between the company and the Department of Defense to support “urgent replenishment of missile defense inventory that has been successfully used in combat and remains central to protecting U.S. forces, allies and critical infrastructure,” the announcement stated.
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A Standard Missile-3 Block IB is fired during a test in 2016 near Hawaii.
The Standard Missile-3 Block IB interceptors are used as ship- and land-based weapons to “defeat short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles during the midcourse phase of flight.”
The missile interceptors were first used in combat in 2024, the company said.
Production will be primarily based in Tucson and the Huntsville, Alabama facility.
A news release from the Department of Defense said the multiyear contract helps “eliminate the programmatic and supply-chain friction.”
Raytheon employs more than 12,000 Arizona workers at its Tucson complex, according to the Arizona Commerce Authority.
The company is the largest nongovernmental employer in Southern Arizona, ranking ninth overall on the Republic 100, a list of Arizona's largest employers.
