Raytheon RIM-161 SM-3

Shooting down the most advanced missile threats often requires interceptors tipped with kill vehicles, a costly subsystem now served by a limited U.S. supply chain.

Raytheon on Aug. 10 announced that it received a $745 million contract for its Standard Missile-3 Block IIA interceptor as part of the Pentagon’s broad push to increase its stock of air defenses.

Voyager Technologies will advance two critical technologies in the RTX supply chain for the Standard Missile (SM)-3 interceptor family.

The U.S. Navy now plans to brief industry on a concept for a new family of ship-launched ballistic missiles in February.

The long-duopolistic solid rocket motor market dominated by Northrop Grumman and Aerojet Rocketdyne is transforming into a competitive multiplayer industry.

Northrop Grumman started developing the new motor in response to a U.S. Navy request for an upper-stage rocket for an “extended-range, hypersonic capability.”

Raytheon’s complaint against the MDA was also filed Nov. 6, but the document is sealed by the court because it includes classified and proprietary information.

China’s military has released an image of a Xian H-6K bomber carrying up to four air-launched ballistic missiles, doubling its previously acknowledged capacity.

South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has approved the purchase of Raytheon SM-3 surface-to-air missiles.

The agency’s fiscal 2024 budget request includes funding for 27 Raytheon SM-3 Block 1B missiles, but then production will stop as upgrades continue.