Raytheon Wins $3 Billion Missile Systems Contract

Raytheon Company will be awarded a $3 billion contract to supply missile systems to the U.S. Defense Department.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency notified Raytheon that it will award the company, when funds are appropriated, a sole-source contract, because it is the "only source that currently possesses the in-depth technical knowledge of the system to satisfactorily perform the work."

The three-year contract will cover manufacture and integration of up to 216 Standard Missile-3 SM-3 Block IB missiles, or 72 per year, starting in 2015. It is part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program, the Missile Defense Agency was quoted as saying by Reuters. "We're confident in the SM-3 Block IB's readiness for production, and we remain on track to deliver this critical capability in support of phase two of the European Phased Adaptive Approach in 2015," Raytheon said in a statement.