The Pentagon announced on Friday that Raytheon Technologies Co (RTX.N) and Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) have won US contracts to continue manufacturing rockets to counter hypersonic weapons.
The decision means that Lockheed Martin Co. (LMT.N), the top U.S. security contractor, which had also been looking for a deal, has been kicked out of the multibillion-dollar programme until further notice, but it could be brought back in the future.
In November, each of the three groups got a separate agreement worth about $60 million to build an interceptor that can be guided by a group of satellites and sensors in space to catch a hypersonic rocket as it skims through Earth’s atmosphere on its way to its target. I understand more
Because of the agreements, only two groups will be able to support the frameworks.
As with any guarantee contract, groups that didn’t win have the right to fight the decision.
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) made a deal with Raytheon and Northrop worth up to $62 million and $60 million, respectively, so that each company could keep making hypersonic weapon interceptors.
Hypersonic weapons can travel at speeds many times faster than the speed of sound and can change course while in flight, which makes it hard to track them.
In a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), it was said that MDA’s internal quotes for an interceptor framework went from $3.7 billion to $4.2 billion when subsidies were given faster.
Congress’s spending plan for the draught guard in 2023 includes money to speed up the program’s development, but that bill has not yet been passed.
The GAO report suggested that the MDA get free reviews of the interceptor’s costs and new ideas.