Raytheon, a subsidiary of RTX, will boost production of the much-needed and highly-consumed Tomahawk cruise missiles for the US Navy. The company was awarded a multi-year contract worth an “unprecedented” $22.9 billion, as part of the Pentagon’s “Arsenal of Freedom” initiative.
This contract, which Raytheon announced on Monday, follows a previous agreement between the Pentagon and the major defense contracting company, which stipulated an increase in production to more than 1,000 missiles annually, in addition to providing the necessary support for this platform.
“The Tomahawk missile is the Navy’s most important offensive weapon, capable of targeting enemy forces hundreds of miles away without endangering the lives of our Sailors,” said Phil Jasper, Raytheon President. “We are investing significantly in our people, technology, supply chain and facilities to significantly increase production capacity and meet growing demand.”
Raytheon increases production of Tomahawk missiles 16-fold
Manufacturing the Tomahawk missile has always been a slow and complex process, with each missile taking between 18 and 24 months from order to completion. These missiles consist of thousands of specialized parts, namely high-reliability electronics, composite structures, and guidance computers. This complex process contributes to the high price of the missile. The price of the basic model is approximately 2.2 million US dollars per unit, while the cost of specialized versions reaches more than 4 million US dollars.
Raytheon Tacoma (RTX) and its subcontractors have continued to invest in the production of Tomahawk missiles and other vital munitions used by the US military. Under the new contract, annual production will increase about 16-fold, from about 60 missiles per year to more than 1,000 missiles.
The US Navy has expressed its satisfaction with Raytheon's investments. “We have called on the industry to rapidly ramp up munitions production, and Raytheon TACO is delivering on its promise,” Acting Navy Secretary Hong Kao wrote on the X platform. “This historic contract for Tomahawk missiles ensures our soldiers continue to have the lethal firepower they need to achieve victory.”
Tomahawk missiles implemented in the war with Iran
The Tomahawk cruise missile is an example of a “luxury munition” owned by the US military, as in a weapon that should be used much less frequently than in the conflict with Iran.
It has been developed for use against fixed, high-value ground targets, such as air defense systems, command and control centres, nuclear facilities and hardened infrastructure. These weapons are frequently used in the early stages of a military campaign, where they can neutralize or weaken an opponent's defensive capabilities from a distance. It can also be launched from US Navy surface ships and submarines, providing long-range precision strikes against land targets more than 1,600 km away.
“The Tomahawk cruise missile remains one of the U.S. Army’s most proven and versatile long-range strike capabilities,” Raytheon wrote about the weapon in a statement announcing the new contract. “With a long record of operational performance, the Tomahawk provides military commanders with reliable and resilient options against high-value targets from a variety of launch platforms.”
All of this is true, and the Tomahawk missile is a weapon that the US Army relies on. However, it has been used against Iran at a poorly planned rate. During the first weeks of Operation Epic Fury, the United States fired more than 850 Tomahawk missiles, and perhaps as many as 1,000 missiles, at ground targets in Iran. This was a record for the highest number of Tomahawk missiles in a single US military campaign. In contrast, about 850 Tomahawk missiles were used during the entire Iraq war from 2003 to 2011.
Most of these missiles were used during the "shock and awe" campaign against Saddam Hussein's forces in March/April 2003. The Pentagon appears to have attempted a similar "shock and awe" campaign again. But during the 2003 campaign, the strikes were intended as a psychological and technical air operation to paralyze the Iraqi leadership on the eve of a full-scale ground invasion, involving hundreds of thousands of US troops on the ground.
As for Iran, no similar ground invasion was launched, and the effect of shock and terror that the United States instilled in the souls of Iranian leaders in the first hours faded. After 6 months, the Iranian regime stabilized and the US Navy's stockpiles of Tomahawk missiles ran out.
The Tomahawk shortage also explains why the US military will look to use less expensive munitions in a prolonged bombing campaign in the future. However, the United States currently does not have effective alternatives to Tomahawk missiles, and it needs more.
