Congressional lawmakers in Washington, DC are ordering the Pentagon to better assess the US military’s stock of air-to-air missiles.
A provision in the draft legislation covering 2025 Pentagon operations would require the US Air Force (USAF) and US Navy (USN) to review their inventory requirements for air-to-air missiles and determine if they have enough weapons to meet operational needs.
If passed by Congress, the air-to-air missile review directed in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act would also require the air force and navy to weigh in on extending production of the Raytheon AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) into 2029 and beyond.
Raytheon in September signed its largest contract ever for AMRAAM production – a $1.2 billion deal to provide missiles to a dozen allies and partners, plus the US military, through 2028.
The USAF and USN will also have to review the annual delivery schedule for all types of air-to-air missiles through 2029, along with total stocks of each type, and assess the combined munitions requirements for the Pentagon’s combatant commands in Europe, the Middle East, Indo-Pacific and North America.
Missile requirements for ground-based air defences and still-under-development autonomous fighters – known as collaborative combat aircraft – are also specifically directed for inclusion within the review.
The report will be due to Congress in April 2025.
Concern about the USA’s available stock of long-range precision munitions, and the ability to replace expended weapons in real time, has been growing in Washington since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Outgoing US national security advisor Jake Sullivan recently said the conflict has served as a “strategic warning” on the issue of munitions, with artillery shells and guided missiles being expended at rates far beyond the production capacity of the American defence industry.
US defence firms also supply many allies in Europe and Asia with the same weapons, generating concern in capitals across the world.
Jon Norman, Raytheon’s vice-president of defence systems requirements, told FlightGlobal in September that the company historically produced between 450 and 650 AMRAAMs annually.
However, contracts for the last several production lots have increased that figure substantially.
“Annual demand for AMRAAMs currently sits around 1,200 units globally,” Norman said.
Although intended primary as an air-launched weapon for fighter aircraft, AMRAAMs can also be fired by the Raytheon-Kongsberg National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), a ground-based air defence platform currently in combat service with the Ukrainian military.
To support further expansion of production capacity at its Tucson, Arizona assembly plant (beyond the current level of 1,200 missiles annually), Raytheon would need to see demand consistently reach 2,000 units annually, Norman noted.
