Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) has received a $466.9 million order to manufacture, test and deliver Standard Missile-3 Block IB interceptors to the Missile Defense Agency.
The company said Tuesday it will supply 44 Block IB missiles under the fiscal 2018 order issued as part of a three-year $2.35 billion production contract announced in 2015.
Mitch Stevison, vice president of Raytheon’s air and missile defense systems business, said the missile is designed to help address upper-tier missile defense requirements of U.S. and allied naval forces.
The SM-3 IB variant works to identify and neutralize airborne threats with a two-color infrared sensor and boosted steering and propulsion technology.
Raytheon will manufacture the interceptors at its Space Factory in Arizona and perform integration work at a company facility in Alabama.
The U.S. Navy intends to use the interceptor to engage short and intermediate-range ballistic missiles as part of regional defense efforts.
The missile was demonstrated at a multinational operational exercise held off the coast of Scotland.
A land-based site in Romania presently uses the IB missile variant.
