John R. Roby, reprint The Huntsville Times
A share of the work on a new $401 million missile contract to arm both U.S. forces and allies will be done in Huntsville.
Raytheon Co. will produce 131 Tomahawk missiles under the fixed-price, undefinitized contract, according to the Defense Department. The order includes 26 of the long-range cruise missiles for the U.S. Army and 16 for the Marine Corps, along with 11 for Australia and 78 for Japan.
About $31.7 million of the contract, which is set to be completed in March 2028, was immediately obligated. That includes $21.5 million of foreign military sales funds.
Primary work sites under the contract are Tucson, Ariz., Pontiac, Mich., East Camden, Ark., and Huntsville. Some work will also be done in Anniston.
Raytheon broke ground on a $115 million expansion of its missile integration facility on Redstone Arsenal in April. The company said at the time that the expansion would double the facility’s space and bring 185 new jobs. Raytheon was awarded a nearly $2 billion contract in July for work in Huntsville and elsewhere on a different next-generation missile system.
The Tomahawk, a conventional missile system, is designed to strike high-value targets, even amid heavy air defenses, with precision. It has a range of over 1,000 miles and can be fired from ships, submarines or land-based systems.
Each Tomahawk costs about $2.4 million. Raytheon is the sole supplier of the missiles.
The contract represents another step in the efforts of two key U.S. allies in the Pacific region to deter potential thrweats from China and North Korea.
Australia has prioritized long-range naval strike capabilities in recent years and intends to acquire and deploy 200 Tomahawks aboard certain destroyers and submarines, according to a recent statement from the country’s Defense Ministry. The Australian navy conducted its first live-fire Tomahawk test in early December.
Japan has pledged to double its annual defense spending and is accelerating its acquisition of up to 400 Tomahawk missiles, the Associated Press reported early this year. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force received specialized missile training from the U.S. Navy in March, according to a Navy news release.
