The US Department of Defense has officially signed a record-breaking contract worth $22.9 billion with defense giant RTX (formerly known as Raytheon).
The goal of the large-scale agreement is to accelerate the production of long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, which are considered the most important strike weapon of the US Navy. According to an official statement by Acting US Navy Secretary Hung Kao, the investment will allow the delivery of critical weapons to the battlefield at “unprecedented speed“.
The new seven-year contract envisages an annual production of Tomahawk missiles to jump from the current about 60 units to more than 1,000 units per year. This unprecedented pace of militarization comes at a time of heightened tensions. Analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said in a recent report that the five-month war with Iran has seriously depleted America’s arsenal of precision weapons and anti-aircraft systems.
The manufacturer RTX announced that it has already tripled missile deliveries in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year. To meet new government quotas by 2032, the arms manufacturer plans to significantly expand its workforce and strengthen supply chains at hundreds of American factories.