Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) awarded Raytheon Missiles and Defense — a division of RTX — a $515,822,691 contract modification (N00024-25-C-5501) to an existing June 2025 Integration and Production Support contract for the Navy's SPY-6 family of radars, according to an RTX press release published June 3, 2026. The sole-source modification funds continued production, integration, and upgrade work, with performance running through May 2027 across eleven domestic work sites.
Award Details and Scope
The modification to contract N00024-25-C-5501 covers several distinct lines of work under the SPY-6 program. Most notably, it includes upgrades to Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, transitioning those hulls to the SPY-6(V)4 variant. Flight IIA ships were originally built without the physical infrastructure for SPY-6 and require structural and systems integration work beyond a direct equipment swap.
The award also covers Foreign Military Sales activity, with Germany included as an FMS customer in this modification. Germany's inclusion reflects growing allied demand for the gallium nitride-based active electronically scanned array (GaN AESA) radar, which the Navy markets as its premier shipboard radar family across surface combatants.
Work under the modification will be performed across multiple domestic sites. The DoD contract record lists eleven locations, with the three largest shares going to Marlborough, Massachusetts (54%); Pascagoula, Mississippi (14%); and Moorestown, New Jersey (9%). Additional performance sites include Newport News, Virginia; Kauai, Hawaii; Wallops Island, Virginia; Bath, Maine; Chesapeake, Virginia; Portsmouth, Rhode Island; Aurora, Colorado; and San Diego, California. Pascagoula is a key Navy shipbuilding and ship repair corridor — making it a natural integration site for ship modification work. Moorestown hosts long-standing Raytheon radar production and test infrastructure supporting the SPY family.
The contracting activity is Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C. The award is a sole-source action, consistent with Raytheon's position as the single designer and integrator of the SPY-6 family under the existing contract vehicle.
Program Status and Production Investment
The SPY-6 family is currently installed and commissioned on two ships, with eleven additional hulls in various stages of testing and integration as of the announcement date. The Navy expects the radar to eventually equip more than 50 hulls over the next decade, spanning Arleigh Burke Flight III destroyers, amphibious assault ships, and other surface combatants depending on variant. That scale makes the current commissioning count — two ships — a relatively early baseline in a long production run.
The SPY-6 is built around gallium nitride semiconductor technology, which delivers higher power efficiency and sensitivity compared to earlier gallium arsenide-based radars such as the SPY-1 family. The GaN AESA architecture allows the radar to simultaneously handle ballistic missile defense tracking, air defense, and surface search with a single aperture — a capability combination that makes each aperture more operationally versatile than its predecessor.
Beyond the contract modification itself, RTX announced a separate $800 million internal investment to double SPY-6 production capacity by 2028. That capital investment is intended to support both the Navy's accelerating hull delivery schedule and anticipated Foreign Military Sales growth. The production expansion is not funded by this contract modification — it is RTX-funded capital expenditure — but it directly enables the throughput the modification's delivery schedule demands.
Barbara Borgonovi, President of Naval Power at Raytheon, said in the RTX press release: "With over a decade of demonstrated success at sea, SPY-6 remains the U.S. Navy's most advanced maritime radar, providing the fleet with unmatched sensing power and multi-mission readiness to counter evolving threats."
What It Means for Contractors
- Sole-source structure limits direct competition, but subcontracting opportunities exist. This modification was awarded without competition as a sole-source action under Raytheon Missiles and Defense. Prime contract access is closed to new entrants on this vehicle. However, the $515 million modification — layered on top of a June 2025 base contract — signals sustained and growing subcontract demand at all three named performance sites. Tier-2 and Tier-3 suppliers in radar electronics, power systems, structural integration, and embedded software should engage Raytheon's supplier portal directly and track upcoming source selections through the company's supply chain organization.
- Flight IIA upgrade work creates site-specific integration demand. Converting Flight IIA destroyers to SPY-6(V)4 requires physical ship modification work alongside radar installation. Contractors with shipboard systems integration, electrical, and mechanical modification capabilities — particularly those with existing past performance in Pascagoula — are well positioned for task order activity tied to this upgrade line.
- FMS inclusion of Germany signals allied procurement pipeline. Germany's presence as an FMS customer in this modification indicates Raytheon and NAVSEA are building the logistics and production chain to support international deliveries. Contractors with export-controlled hardware experience, ITAR compliance infrastructure, and FMS-specific documentation capabilities will find this program a relevant pipeline to monitor through NAVSEA's FMS program offices. As additional allied navies evaluate SPY-6 variants, the FMS customer base for this contract vehicle may expand beyond Germany in future modifications, broadening the international logistics and support subcontract base.
- RTX's $800M capacity investment means facility and equipment subcontracts. Doubling production capacity by 2028 requires construction, tooling, equipment procurement, and facilities work at Raytheon's manufacturing sites, including its Radar Development Facility in Andover, Massachusetts. Facility contractors, cleanroom specialists, and defense electronics equipment suppliers should track RTX procurement announcements for these investments separately from the prime contract activity.
- Period of performance through May 2027 sets a near-term follow-on window. Contractors planning teaming and proposal schedules for follow-on work should note this modification expires in approximately twelve months. The next recompete or modification cycle for continued integration and production support is likely to surface on SAM.gov within that window. Establishing relationships with NAVSEA's program office and Raytheon's supply chain now positions firms ahead of solicitation release rather than reacting to it.
- Program scale makes SPY-6 a decade-long opportunity. With more than 50 hulls expected over the coming decade and only two currently commissioned, the SPY-6 program is in early production growth. Business development professionals tracking Navy surface warfare should map their capabilities to the specific variant — SPY-6(V)1 for Flight III destroyers, SPY-6(V)3 for carriers and amphibious ships, or SPY-6(V)4 for the Flight IIA conversion line — rather than treating the program as a single undifferentiated opportunity.
