The U.S. Navy has awarded Raytheon an SM-6 production contract valued at up to $24.4 billion, covering five years with two additional option years, as the service moves to sharply increase production of one of its most versatile ship-launched weapons. Raytheon says the new arrangement supports production of more than 500 SM-6 missiles per year, compared with much smaller annual procurement levels earlier in the decade. The missile can engage manned and unmanned aircraft, cruise missiles and terminal-phase ballistic missiles and can also strike surface targets. The contract ceiling is not the same as money already appropriated or obligated: fiscal 2027 funding remains subject to congressional appropriations, with the federal government currently operating under a continuing resolution through December 11.
U.S. Navy Munitions Expansion · October 2026
The SM-6 Program Is Moving From Hundreds Toward 500+ Missiles a Year
The Navy's latest production agreement is designed to give Raytheon a longer demand signal so workforce, suppliers, tooling and manufacturing capacity can be expanded around one of the Fleet's highest-end multi-mission weapons.
$24.4B
maximum contract value
This is a contract ceiling across a five-year base period plus two potential option years. It is not $24.4 billion of money already spent or appropriated.
Five years locked in, two years available as options
1Base
2Base
3Base
4Base
5Base
6Option
7Option
Quantities and delivery schedules for the full $24.4 billion framework have not been publicly disclosed.
Target Annual Output
500+
Raytheon's production framework calls for more than 500 SM-6 missiles annually.
FY2027 Requested Quantity
540
239 Block IA plus 301 Block IAU missiles in the Navy budget request.
FY2027 Standard Missile Request
$4.33B
Includes missiles, canisters, engineering support and related program costs.
FY2025 SM-6 Procurement
125
Earlier budget documents described 125 missiles as the factory's maximum production-rate procurement.
Red Sea SM-6 Expenditure
80
U.S. Navy surface forces disclosed firing 80 SM-6s during the first 15 months of Red Sea combat operations.
CBO Interceptor Estimate
50%–67%
CBO estimates the United States probably used between one-half and two-thirds of its combined inventory of certain high-end missile-defense interceptors since June 2025. The category includes Patriot, THAAD, SM-3 and SM-6. It does not mean that this share of every individual missile type was expended.
Estimated Rebuild Window
5+ Years
CBO says rebuilding those affected interceptor inventories would probably require at least five years even with higher production rates.
Production Scale
From a 125-Missile Buy to a 500-Plus Annual Production System
The contract is less about one extraordinary procurement year than about restructuring the production base so higher missile output can be sustained over multiple years.
FY2025 procurement
125
Earlier scale
Prior FY2028 plan
300
Previous MYP peak
New production target
500+
Current target
AA
Anti-Air Warfare
Designed to engage manned aircraft, unmanned aircraft and cruise missiles at extended range.
BM
Ballistic Defense
Demonstrated against ballistic missiles during the terminal phase of flight.
AS
Anti-Surface
The same missile family can also engage surface ships, giving it an offensive sea-control role.
↔
Multi-Platform
SM-6 technology is fielded from Navy ships and land launchers, while the AIM-174B adaptation extends the family into carrier aviation.
The contract reaches far beyond Raytheon's final assembly line
RTX says the production expansion depends on additional skilled labor, stronger supplier partnerships, automation and manufacturing investment. Earlier framework agreements identified Raytheon facilities in Tucson, Huntsville and Andover as part of the broader munitions production expansion.
Alabama Expansion
$115M
RTX says this facility expansion supporting SM-3 and SM-6 integration has already been completed.
FY27 Block IA
239 Missiles
Requested unit procurement cost listed at approximately $5.5 million.
FY27 Block IAU
301 Missiles
Requested unit procurement cost listed at approximately $7.84 million.
Second Rocket Motor Source
$100M
FY2026 mandatory funding supports development of another solid-rocket-motor source for Navy air defense.
Production Expansion
$225M
FY2026 mandatory funding supports additional capacity for Navy air-defense and anti-ship missiles.
Contract ceiling does not equal an appropriation.
The Navy has created the multiyear procurement vehicle, but future purchases still depend on available appropriations. Fiscal year 2027 began under a continuing resolution that maintains funding through December 11 while Congress continues work on full-year appropriations.
Ship Universe Magazine Rebuild Tool
SM-6 Production Ramp & Inventory Rebuild Model
Test how a sustained production increase changes the time required to manufacture a selected number of replacement or additional missiles. The model deliberately avoids assuming the classified size of the Navy's actual SM-6 inventory.
missiles
User-entered scenario. This is not an estimate of the classified SM-6 inventory shortfall.
missiles / year
%
Allows part of annual output to be reserved for other requirements, foreign sales, testing or force growth.
missiles / year
$M / missile
Scenario value only. FY2027 budget figures differ by SM-6 variant and do not represent the full contract average.
years
Effective Rebuild Output
400 / yr
annual rate multiplied by the share available for the selected rebuild scenario
Modeled Rebuild Time
3.8 yrs
years required to manufacture the entered missile quantity
Legacy-Rate Rebuild Time
12.0 yrs
comparison using the entered legacy annual production scale
Time Saved by Ramp
8.3 yrs
difference between the modeled legacy and expanded production cases
Illustrative Procurement Value
$9.75B
missile quantity multiplied by the user-entered unit procurement value
Maximum Production Over Horizon
3,500
gross annual production multiplied by entered contract horizon
Production Scale Comparison
Production capacity determines how quickly inventories can be restored, but annual output also has to satisfy testing, force expansion, exports and ongoing operational consumption.
Legacy Scale125 / yr
Selected Production Rate500 / yr
Selected Missile Requirement1,500 missiles
Selected Scenario
New Production Target
A production target above 500 missiles per year gives the Navy far more replenishment capacity than older procurement profiles, but it does not reveal the classified inventory requirement or guarantee that every missile produced will replenish U.S. ship magazines.
Annual Rate500
Rebuild Share80%
Horizon7 yrs
Scenario Need1,500
Model limitation:
U.S. SM-6 inventory levels are not publicly disclosed. CBO's one-half to two-thirds estimate applies to a combined category of several high-end missile-defense interceptors, not specifically to SM-6. This tool therefore requires the user to enter a hypothetical missile requirement rather than attempting to infer a classified stockpile.
