US approves $20.7bn AMRAAM production deal with RTX

The US Department of War announced a $20.7 billion order with Raytheon for the AIM-120 AMRAAM on 28 September. The agreement runs five years and carries two further option years, and is intended to almost double output of the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile against earlier levels.

Annual production could reach 1,900 missiles or more under the contract. Under secretary of war for acquisition and sustainment Michael P. Duffey said the department is working with the defence industry to raise production rates and described the award as strengthening the ability to supply US forces and allies with an established air-to-air capability.

The AMRAAM has long been the default medium-range missile for the United States and its international partners, and the contract covers Foreign Military Sales. Weapons are designated for 16 countries, among them European and Indo-Pacific allies alongside Canada and Taiwan.

The award follows a separate agreement announced on 17 September between Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon to lift production of the AIM-260 long-range air-to-air missile, developed as a successor to the AMRAAM. That deal was said to widen allied access to the weapon without disclosing details of the classified technology.

In late August, the US Navy said a new long-range air-to-air missile, the AIM-424 Malice, had emerged. Raytheon developed the weapon to counter what the service described as a serious Chinese threat to aircraft carrier strike groups, and the Navy put its range at more than 250nm (463km).