WASHINGTON — The Air Force on Thursday issued a new round of contracts collectively worth roughly $7.8 billion to boost the Pentagon’s stockpile of air-to-air, air-to-ground, and ship-killing munitions.
The largest award of nearly $4.3 billion went to Lockheed Martin for production of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM). The contract covers large lot procurement for JASSM production lots 22-26 and LRASM lots 9-12, according to a DoD contract announcement. LRASM is derived from the JASSM and the two missiles share the same production line. The contract also includes foreign military sales for Finland, Japan, the Netherlands and Poland.
Since the weapons are additionally used by the Navy, the award includes both Air Force and Navy dollars as well as FMS funds, bringing the total amount obligated at the time of the announcement to over $1.4 billion. The new round of awards was a modification of an existing agreement, bringing the total cumulative value of the contract to nearly $9.5 billion, according to the DoD notice.
“Increasing JASSM and LRASM production is essential for American and allied national security, and Lockheed Martin is ready to answer the call,” Dave Berganini, vice president of hypersonic and strike systems at Lockheed’s Missiles and Fire Control division, said in a statement. “We are leveraging our advanced manufacturing capabilities and investing in our production facilities to quickly and affordably deliver these critical capabilities warfighters need to maintain a strategic edge and protect our nation from emerging threats.”
The second multi-billion award went to RTX subsidiary Raytheon for production lots 39 and 40 of the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), a weapon that can also be fired from ground launchers like the NASAMS to defeat airborne threats. The contract awarded Thursday disburses $3.5 billion for AMRAAM production and includes FMS sales for 19 countries, including Taiwan.
The Navy uses AMRAAM as well, and when combined with funds from the Air Force, Navy and FMS customers the total amount obligated upon the contract’s award is over $1.5 billion, according to the contract announcement. The Thursday AMRAAM award is the largest in the program’s history, according to Raytheon.
“As global conflicts intensify and air threats become more sophisticated, AMRAAM continues to give allied forces a decisive edge in combat,” Sam Deneke, president of Air & Space Defense Systems at Raytheon, said in a statement. “This award underscores the critical role that the fifth-generation AMRAAM plays in maintaining air superiority and will ensure service members have the advanced technology needed to stay ahead of adversary threats.”
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The two mega-munition buys come as the Pentagon aims to replenish and expand its missile stockpile, which has been strained by conflict in the Middle East and shipments to Ukraine. Officials have said a large munitions inventory will also be needed to deter a conflict with China.
Although the dollars obligated at the time of the award are technically funds sourced from prior fiscal years that have not yet been expended, the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) — otherwise known as reconciliation — will help the services boost munitions buys alongside their traditional budget requests. A spending plan for the OBBB recently sent by lawmakers to the Pentagon allocates $490 million and $400 million to increase procurement of JASSM and LRASM respectively. Another $380 million should be used to expand LRASM’s production capacity, the plan says.
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AMRAAM similarly benefited from the reconciliation process. The spending plan provides an additional $250 million for procurement of the weapon alongside $225 million to expand its production capacity, the spending plan says. Officials aim to double the missile’s annual production from 1,200 to 2,400.
Munitions like JASSM and AMRAAM are expensive, however, leading Pentagon officials to cast about for more affordable alternatives like cheaper cruise missiles and less exquisite interceptors.