US announces $24.4-billion contract to speed up missile production

The Pentagon on Thursday announced the award of a $24.4-billion contract for Raytheon to accelerate production of SM-6 missiles as Washington works to replace the large amount of munitions expended during the Iran war.

The missiles are "critical anti-air and anti-surface warfare munition. This five-year agreement, with two additional option years, will drive faster production," the Pentagon said in a statement.

The deal "provides the defence industry with the long-term predictability needed to expand workforce capacity and secure critical supply chains," the Pentagon added.

President Donald Trump has so far brushed aside questions about the major toll taken on US munition supplies by the war against Iran, which the United States and Israel launched on February 28.

But the Defence Department's inspector general said last month that "the munitions expenditure on Operation Epic Fury has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply," using the official name for the operation against Iran.

And a September 15 report by the Congressional Budget Office cited the hit to missile defence supplies that "will leave the United States with a reduced inventory of interceptors for several years."

Raytheon confirmed in a statement Wednesday that their SM-6 "has been successfully fired from various US Navy ship-based platforms and launchers on land," calling it a "combat-proven weapon."

The weapons-maker also acknowledged increased efforts to meet demand.

"By continuously investing in our operations and facilities, we are removing constraints and boosting capacity to ensure we deliver this critical capability our sailors depend on," Raytheon President Phil Jasper said in the statement.

Tehran continues to claim control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz more than seven months after the initial US and Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic, while Washington is blockading Iran's ports.

Trump has told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran by late November, the Wall Street Journal reported, which would set the stage for further Iranian strikes and more expenditures of American munitions.