Raytheon Wins $536 Million Army Deal to Ramp Up TOW Missile Production

The Tucson-based contractor's modification lifts the anti-tank weapon contract to $750.8 million, with work in Arizona set to finish Aug. 31, 2027.

First Published: August 7, 2026, 1:14 PM ET

TUCSON, ARIZONA — Raytheon Co., the Tucson, Arizona, missile maker that ranks among the largest U.S. defense contractors, won a $535.9 million Army modification to expand production of the TOW anti-tank weapon, as announced on war.gov.

The award (P00025) to contract W31P4Q-23-C-0026 covers full rate production and engineering services and lifts the deal’s cumulative value to $750.8 million. Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, obligated $54.8 million in fiscal 2026 procurement funds at the time of the award, with work slated to finish Aug. 31, 2027.

The TOW, short for tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided, is a heavy anti-tank missile carried by ground vehicles and infantry units. Raytheon operates as a business unit of RTX Corporation, the Arlington, Virginia, aerospace and defense conglomerate that posted revenue of $88.6 billion in 2025 according to wikipedia.org. The company stands as the world’s largest producer of guided missiles, with annual revenues exceeding $68 billion according to ebsco.com.

The modification favors the U.S. Army, which sustains a full production line for a weapon it has fielded for decades, and Raytheon’s Tucson workforce, which builds the missile. Taxpayers carry the cost, drawn from fiscal 2026 Army procurement funds. Foreign militaries that operate the TOW under U.S. sales programs also stand to gain from a steady supply.

The award ranks as the 25th contract to Raytheon in 2026, lifting the company’s total for the year to $7.2 billion. It also marks the 24th Department of Defense contract placed in Arizona during 2026. The modification does not approach Raytheon’s record award of $5 billion, and within the 2026 Army portfolio it sits between a year-to-date low of $9.1 million and a high of $53.9 billion.

Measured against peers, the sum is modest for a company of RTX’s scale. The parent conglomerate employs 180,000 people and holds total assets of $171 billion according to wikipedia.org, dwarfing the value of a single missile modification.

For the average U.S. reader, the deal reflects how federal defense dollars flow to a regional manufacturing base. Raytheon’s missile operations anchor thousands of jobs in southern Arizona, and sustained production contracts support suppliers and payroll across the Tucson economy.

This has happened before. The TOW program has drawn repeated production and engineering awards over its service life, and Raytheon has booked additional missile and radar contracts throughout 2026 as demand for munitions climbed. RTX has moved to boost missile output amid strong global orders according to ebsco.com.

Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal administers the contract and would authorize any further modification or option exercise. A date for the next decision has not been announced, though the current work carries an estimated completion of Aug. 31, 2027.

Raytheon’s rise on military munitions is not the first time the company turned wartime demand into commercial reach. Founded in 1922 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the firm mass-produced magnetron radar tubes during World War II and by 1945 accounted for roughly 80 percent of all magnetrons made according to wikipedia.org. Percy Spencer, a Raytheon engineer, discovered in 1945 that the magnetron could heat food, and the company demonstrated the Radarange microwave oven for commercial use in 1947 according to wikipedia.org. That accidental find turned a war device into a kitchen staple and cemented the company’s path from radar to guided missiles.

This contract represents the 25th contract awarded to Raytheon Co., in 2026, bringing the company’s total contract value for the year to $7,218,669,608. It is also the 24th Department of Defense contract awarded in Arizona during 2026. While this is not the largest contract ever awarded to Raytheon Co., whose record stands at $5,039,629,681, it is notable within the Army portfolio. Specifically, it falls between the 2026 Army portfolio’s year-to-date minimum of $9,051,490 and maximum of $53,859,843,289. Overall, this award was announced among 2 Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on August 7, 2026.