The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has awarded a $745 million contract to Raytheon for the production and support of Standard Missile-3 Block IIA interceptors.

This new order includes additional SM-3 IIA missiles, whose production will be carried out at Raytheon facilities in Tucson, Arizona, and Huntsville, Alabama. RTX has expanded production capacity for the Standard missile family, including a $115 million expansion in Huntsville, which is expected to increase integrated missile production and delivery capacity by more than 50%.

The SM-3 IIA missile, jointly developed by Raytheon and Japan’s industry, uses an advanced kinetic warhead and a larger rocket motor to intercept threats from short- to intermediate-range ballistic missile threats.