Middle East — 2026-08-20

Raytheon to Boost Tomahawk Cruise Missile Production Amid Depleted US Stocks From Iran Campaign

BLUFPentagon's shift from restocking to structural production expansion confirms that sustained high-tempo strike campaigns now define the US munitions planning baseline, with inventory recovery years away.

The US Navy awarded Raytheon, an RTX subsidiary, a seven-year, $22.9 billion contract on Monday to expand Tomahawk cruise missile production under the Pentagon's Arsenal of Freedom initiative 12. The contract raises annual Tomahawk output from about 60 missiles to more than 1,000, a 16-fold increase 123, and follows a framework agreement Raytheon and the Navy signed in February 2. Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao and Pentagon acquisition official Michael Duffey said the award answers calls for industry to scale up munitions output 2. The Navy expended more than 850 Tomahawks, and possibly close to 1,000, against Iran during Operation Epic Fury, depleting its stockpile 3. A Center for Strategic and International Studies analysis in July found Patriot interceptor inventories had fallen below 1,000 from 2,330 and THAAD stocks dropped from 452 to roughly 250 since the Iran conflict began in February 2.

Analysis
Resting almost entirely on RTX's own press release, as other outlets merely echo it, the award signals the Pentagon now treats Tomahawk depletion as a multi-year industrial gap rather than a one-time restock: each missile needs 18 to 24 months from order to completion, so inventory won't recover until the contract's later years. Parallel Patriot and THAAD drawdowns show Operation Epic Fury strained the broader air and missile defense industrial base, not just cruise missile stocks, prompting matching multibillion-dollar contracts. The 16-fold production increase exceeds routine replenishment, reflecting a bet that sustained high-tempo strikes are the planning baseline, and framing the deal as proactive scaling rather than emergency replenishment lets officials manage the shortfall's optics as much as fix it.

4 sources

RTX's Raytheon awarded seven-year contract for Tomahawk cruise missiles
US awards Raytheon $22.9bn Tomahawk production deal as concerns mount over dwindling munitions - The National
Raytheon to Boost Tomahawk Missile Production - National Interest
Raytheon gets massive $23B contract to boost Tomahawk production - Breaking Defense