U.S.A.F. Orders Latest AMRAAM Missiles for $1.15B

The U.S. Air Force awarded Raytheon a $1.15 billion contract for AIM-120 D-3 and C-8 AMRAAM missiles.

This is the largest AMRAAM missile contract to date and the fifth production lot of the advanced missiles developed under the Form, Fit, Function Refresh, also known as F3R, which updates both the missile's hardware and allows for agile software upgrades.

In addition to providing missiles to both the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy, the contract also supplies AMRAAM all-up-rounds and/or spares to 18 countries, including Ukraine, extending the production line for both the U.S. and Allied partners.

"This contract involves unclassified Foreign Military Sales to Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom, which accounts for approximately 39% of the contract value," the U.S. Department of Defense said in a release.

Under the F3R program, engineers used model-based systems engineering initiatives and other digital technologies to upgrade multiple circuit cards and other hardware in the guidance section of the missile and to re-host legacy software in the AIM-120 D-3 and AIM-120 C-8 AMRAAMs.