Surging orders for long-range missiles and air defence systems have driven backlogs at US arms manufacturers to record levels.
Strong demand for precision munitions is coming not just from Washington, but capitals around the world, amid active conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, and ever-increasing tensions in the Indo-Pacific around the future of Taiwan and Chinese influence in the region.
As a result, weapons giant Raytheon says it has seen a dramatic increase in orders from international customers over the past year.
During a 22 October investor call covering the recently concluded third quarter, Christopher Calio, the chief executive of Raytheon’s parent company RTX, said the company’s defence units are seeing “record global demand”.
“At Raytheon, we booked a record $16.6 billion of awards in the quarter, driven by the continued global demand for integrated air and missile defence capabilities,” Calio says.
Notably, 45% of those bookings were from non-domestic sources. Popular items included Raytheon’s combat-proven AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) and Patriot ground-based air defence system, which notched $1.2 billion and $3 billion worth of orders respectively between July and September alone.
The versatile AMRAAM can be deployed by fighters for air-to-air combat or ground-launched by the popular Raytheon-Kongsberg National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System in a surface-to-air role.
The company also saw $1.2 billion in orders for the Standard Missile 3 – a ship-based surface-to-air missile that has seen heavy use by the US Navy (USN) over the past year throughout a hectic campaign to protect both Israeli airspace and commercial shipping assets in the Red Sea from repeated drone and missile attacks.
Raytheon also logged its first orders for the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) – a new 360° radar that will succeed the threat-tracking sensor currently used by the Patriot. A $2 billion contract from the US Army in August will cover LTMADS for both Poland and the USA, which is seeking to protect key locations like Guam from air attack.
The truly global nature of current geopolitical tensions has caused orders for Raytheon’s weapons and sensors to pour in from around the world in recent months.
“Raytheon’s backlog is now 44% international,” says RTX vice-president of investor relations Nathan Ware. This represents a more than 10% increase from the same time last year, he notes.
Rival Lockheed Martin is enjoying similarly strong demand for its munition products. In his own Q3 earnings call on 22 October, Lockheed CEO James Taiclet said his company is sitting on a record backlog of more than $165 billion in unfilled orders.
“Precision and air defence munitions drove the increase,” Taiclet says.
Lockheed’s backlog for missiles alone topped $40 billion, according to Taiclet, another company record.
Among the weapons that are proving particularly popular are the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM). The stealthy, long-range cruise missiles are seen as essential tools against a modern adversary, particularly in the vast Indo-Pacific theatre.
During the third quarter, the US Air Force issued Lockheed a $3 billion, multi-year contract for production of the critical air-launched missiles, which can be deployed from fighter and bomber aircraft operated by the air force, as well as the USN.
