Lockheed, Honeywell, BAE Sign Deals to Ramp Missile Production for Pentagon — Update

By Adriano Marchese

The Pentagon signed new framework agreements with three major defense contractors--Lockheed Martin, Honeywell Aerospace and BAE Systems--to ramp production of some defense capabilities, including missiles that were used in Iran this month.

Lockheed said it will rapidly scale production of the Precision Strike Missile, building on last year's $4.94 billion contract with the U.S. Army. The defense contractor expects to quadruple missile output and support a potential procurement of up to seven years if Congress grants multiyear authority, and contingent upon future congressional authorization.

The missile was used in combat for the first time in early March as part of the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran.

Under another agreement, Honeywell Aerospace said it will accelerate its production of critical defense technologies as part of its own supplier framework agreement with the Department of War, referring to the unofficial name that the Pentagon has revived for the Defense Department.

The industrial conglomerate said the agreement includes a $500 million multiyear investment to upgrade the company's production capacity, including for the output of resilient navigation systems; Assure actuators for missile maneuverability for interceptors, tactical and other strategic high-performance missiles; and electronic-warfare technologies used on fighter jets.

BAE Systems also signed a new seven-year agreement that it said will quadruple production capacity and accelerate delivery of the infrared seeker for the terminal high altitude area defense (Thaad) interceptor missile in support of Lockheed Martin.

Demand for weapons and defense technologies has surged globally as the Russia-Ukraine war enters its fourth year, and more recently as the U.S. and Israel have escalated their attacks on Iran. Countries in Europe and Asia have been similarly ramping up procurement, and Washington has responded by pressing major contractors to expand production lines, shorten delivery timelines and rebuild capacity across the supply chain.

The Trump administration has spent months pushing defense contractors like Lockheed and RTX to ramp up annual production of their most advanced missiles, The Wall Street Journal reported.

In February, RTX committed to significantly ramping up its missile output and said it would speed deliveries and increase production capacity of Tomahawk missiles, advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles (Amraams) and multiple versions of its standard missiles.

Lockheed earlier this year said it would quadruple its Thaad missile-defense system output, to roughly 400 interceptors a year and boost its Patriot missile output to roughly 2,000 interceptors a year, in response to demand from Pentagon officials.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 25, 2026 09:50 ET (13:50 GMT)