Navy plans sole-source Raytheon contract for low-rate production of Tomahawk's JMEWS warhead

Raytheon has been selected to modernize U.S. Space Force early-warning radar sites, parent company RTX announced Oct. 15, 2026. The sensors provide launch warning, object characterization and activity tracking in space, serving as the outermost layer of the nation's missile-defense architecture, RTX says.¹

Through the Ground-Based Radar Digitization program, Raytheon says it will work with the Space Force to modernize long-serving systems. Working alongside the service and industry, the company says it will help create a common open architecture that improves sustainment efficiency, avoids vendor lock and simplifies future upgrades to system performance.¹

Lockheed Martin is considering new industry partners to build PAC-3 Patriot interceptors in Europe, which could also help supply Ukraine, Defense News reported Tuesday. In Germany, the company is weighing Diehl Defence, Jason Reynolds, general manager of Lockheed's integrated air and missile defense division, told the outlet at the Association of the U.S. Army convention. "If we were to go forward with exploring any kind of production in Germany, we would likely do that with a company like Diehl," he said. A Diehl spokesperson confirmed consultations are ongoing, according to Defense News.¹

The pairing has a paper trail. Reynolds signed a memorandum of understanding with Diehl at the same convention a year earlier to explore expanding the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) supply chain.² German leaders have offered to host PAC-3 production, and Raytheon and MBDA already make the PAC-2 line there, Defense News reported.¹

Reynolds said Lockheed is "absolutely willing to talk to Ukraine," adding that "it might be something like an ACE, as opposed to an MSE, that we would start with." Lockheed announced development of the ACE over the summer, billing it as a cheaper option against relatively simple threats at half the cost of an MSE, Defense News reported. Because a plant inside Ukraine risks Russian attack, the company is considering production in nearby safe countries, the outlet reported.¹