Recently, RTX subsidiary Raytheon announced plans to expand Tomahawk production to an incredible 1,000 weapons per year. This is a massive 1,011% increase from current numbers that tend to hover around the factory’s minimum sustainment rate of just 90 per year for the U.S. and international customers. In other words, the current production numbers represent the fewest missiles Raytheon can build while still keeping the production line open.
“RTX has invested heavily in capacity expansion to accelerate production of several critical munitions and will continue investing in capacity expansion and production acceleration projects,” the company said in a released statement.
The U.S. Navy’s land-attack weapon of choice for long strikes, the BGM-109 Tomahawk, will likely find itself at the center of any 21st-century conflict and has been widely used during Operation Epic Fury against Iran.
These weapons have been in service, in one iteration or another, since 1983. Today’s most modern Block V Tomahawks come in two variants: the Block Va land attack missile; and the Block Vb anti-ship missile.
Both versions offer ranges in excess of 1,000 miles (more than 1,600 kilometers), an advanced two-way data-link, terrain contour-mapping to hug the wavetops or the ground on approach, and either a 1,000-pound class high explosive warhead or even a submunition dispenser that can rain 166 BLU-97/B combined effect bomblets over the target area.
The last time the Pentagon issued a hard number on its Tomahawk stockpile was in 2017, when there were 4,170 missiles in its inventory. While production has continued since then, the U.S. Navy has consistently used more Tomahawks per year on average than it’s been buying, resulting in a topline number that continues to dwindle. In just the first day of 2024’s strikes against Houthi rebels, for instance, the Navy fired 80 Tomahawk missiles at 30 targets across Yemen, which is 25 more Tomahawks than were delivered in 2023.
Raytheon also announced that it will expand production of its AIM-120 AMRAAM, or Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, to a new top line of 1,900 weapons per year, representing as much as a 280% increase in production.
Historically, AMRAAM production has floated between 500 and 800 weapons per year. But by late 2023, increasing demand caused by the war in Ukraine had already seen production numbers swell to Raytheon’s maximum capacity of 1,200 per year, with no signs of slowing.
The modern AMRAAM, which has a maximum range of over 100 miles, serves near the middle of a high-low mix of air intercept missiles. This also includes the AIM-260 and the Navy’s SM-6-based AIM-174B for long ranges, and weapons like the incredibly dynamic AIM-9X for short rangers and even the AGR-20 for drone and cruise missile intercepts.
The AMRAAM is quickly becoming the more budget-friendly air-to-air missile for beyond-visual-range engagements at its range. Further, the U.S. needs more AMRAAMs than it realistically needs AIM-260s or AIM-174s, because, at extremely long range, these latter missiles are more likely to be used to engage larger, more sluggish targets like airborne early warning and control aircraft or aerial refueling tankers.
The company also announced that it will expand production of its SM-3 IB, SM-3 IIA, and SM-6 interceptors.
Feature Image: A Tomahawk cruise missile launches from the forward vertical launch system of the USS Shiloh (CG 67) to attack selected air defense targets south of the 33rd parallel in Iraq on Sept. 3, 1996, as part of Operation Desert Strike.
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