Raytheon receives $1.2B missile contract

Arlington County-based Raytheon Technologies Corp. will produce its Patriot missile systems for Switzerland under a $1.2 billion U.S. Army foreign military sales contract.

The contract, announced by the Pentagon March 28, includes five Patriot units as well as the company’s Guidance Enhanced Missile, or GEM-T, a Patriot missile variant used to defeat tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and enemy aircraft, Raytheon said in a news release Monday.

With the sale, Switzerland becomes Raytheon’s 18th global Patriot buyer. Work is estimated to be completed Dec. 31, 2032.

“Designed specifically to counter today’s threats, Patriot is the proven, reliable ground-based air defense capability for the U.S. Army and now 17 international countries,” Tom Laliberty, president of land warfare and air defense at Raytheon, said in a statement. “Switzerland now joins this global Patriot user community and will benefit from unparalleled commonality, cooperation, experience and cost sharing over the weapon system’s life cycle.”

Raytheon’s Army contract was followed March 30 with news that it had received a $650 million contract from the Navy to produce and deliver the third lot of the service’s Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band. The system is part of a larger system meant to augment and replace the service’s legacy ALQ-99 Tactical Hamming System used on the EA-18G Growler for airborne electronic attack.  Under the contract, Raytheon will produce 15 ship sets, including 11 for the Navy and four for Australia, as well as associated spares, support equipment, associated data and non-recurring engineering. Work is expected to be completed in April 2024, the Pentagon said.