Raytheon Technologies, which is now promoting itself under the new RTX brand, has officially received a rather large order from the US government to produce AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles.
The deal’s total cost is $1.15 billion and includes versions of the D-3 and C-8 missiles, which range from 160-180 km, according to various sources.
As the company notes, this is the largest contract of all time and the fifth in the series of the Form, Fit, Function Refresh – F3R program, which involves the production of an updated version of the missile in terms of electronic components and software. And to implement this order, the production line will be expanded.
The total number of missiles in this order is not disclosed. But in March 2023, the US Ministry of Defense published a report on plans to purchase weapons for the 2024 fiscal year (beginning on October 1, 2023), according to which it planned to purchase 831 missiles for 1.14 billion dollars.
Thus, for the fiscal year 2024, the cost of one AIM-120 AMRAAM is $1.37 million for the United States, while these missiles can be much more expensive for export. We will remind you that American weapons are sold not by the company but by the country’s government, which already purchases them from the manufacturer.
For example, the Netherlands 2020 purchased AIM-120C-8 at $2.43 million per unit within a contract for 16 missiles for $39 million. And Hungary was able to buy 180 AIM-120C-7 missiles in 2019 for $0.5 billion, i.e., $2.77 million per unit.
And, of course, these missiles from this order are not intended only for Ukraine. In particular, it is indicated that the order is intended for the US Air Force and Navy and 18 countries, including Ukraine.
