The US defence company Raytheon has been given a contract worth more than US$1 billion to produce AMRAAM air-to-air missiles.

According to Pentagon’s press release, the contract provides for the production of missiles, the AMRAAM telemetry system, spare parts, and engineering and technical support for production.

Production is expected to be completed by 31 January 2027.

The contract provides for unclassified foreign military supplies to Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

The AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile) is an American all-weather, medium-range air-to-air guided missile.

AMRAAM missiles are the main air-to-air weapon of all types of modern fighters of the US Armed Forces. These missiles are also in service with fighters from NATO and other US allies.

The missile is also used in the Norwegian-American NASAMS air defence system.

Earlier, it was reported that the Pentagon had overestimated the cost of assistance to Ukraine since February 2022 by more than US$6 billion. The overestimation may mean that the US has more additional funds than previously thought, which means that there may not be a need to agree on another financial aid package for Ukraine between the White House and Congress.