National Defense

Defense Giants Post Record Backlogs As Iran War Drains America’s Missile Stockpiles

Image not from story. [Wikimedia Commons/Public/U.S. Army photo by Capt. Frank Spatt]

Two of America’s largest defense contractors reported record order backlogs Tuesday, with RTX securing nearly $23 billion in Tomahawk cruise missile contracts as the Pentagon faced mounting costs to replace weapons expended during the war with Iran.

RTX disclosed a record $340 billion companywide backlog, including $164 billion in defense orders, while Northrop Grumman reported a record $109.6 billion in outstanding contracts. Although neither company attributed its overall backlog to the Iran conflict, RTX secured major orders for Tomahawk missiles and missile defense interceptors, weapons the U.S. military expended during the fighting.

RTX reported quarterly revenue climbed 11% to nearly $25 billion, according to its earnings release. Its Raytheon defense division generated $8 billion in sales, a 14% increase from a year earlier, driven by higher production volumes on naval weapons, Patriot air defense systems, Standard Missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Raytheon’s operating profit jumped 32% to $1.13 billion, while RTX secured more than $81 billion in new commercial aerospace and defense awards during the quarter.

RTX CEO Chris Calio said approximately $23 billion in Tomahawk contracts and more than $14 billion in AMRAAM missile orders accounted for the majority of the company’s nearly $59 billion in quarterly defense bookings. The Tomahawk orders included a $22.9 billion contract awarded in August to expand production for the U.S. Navy.

Northrop Grumman reported third-quarter revenue increased 7% to $11.1 billion, with its Aeronautics Systems division recording 14% growth and Defense Systems sales climbing 12%, according to its financial results.

The company secured $16.4 billion in new contracts during the quarter, including $2 billion for the Sentinel nuclear missile program, $1.4 billion for Virginia-class submarines and $1.3 billion for F-35 fighter aircraft. Those awards reflected broader military spending rather than contracts specifically identified as replacements for weapons used in Iran.

Northrop’s backlog increased 15% from the end of 2025, reaching $109.6 billion. Company filings showed approximately $50.1 billion of those orders were funded, while another $59.5 billion remained unfunded, illustrating how large contract backlogs do not necessarily translate into immediately available defense equipment.

The expanding defense business comes as American military operations in Iran have consumed substantial quantities of expensive weapons.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that military operations against Iran cost approximately $38 billion through Aug. 1, including $21.7 billion to replace expended munitions. Of that amount, $13.1 billion involved missile defense interceptors, including Patriot, THAAD, SM-3 and SM-6 missiles, while another $7.3 billion involved land-attack cruise missiles, including Tomahawks.

A July assessment from the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated American Patriot missile inventories had fallen below 1,000 interceptors, while Terminal High Altitude Area Defense inventories stood at approximately 250. Researchers warned that depleted stockpiles could threaten American military readiness in a potential confrontation with China.

RTX subsequently announced a contract worth up to $24.4 billion for SM-6 interceptors on Oct. 1, followed by another agreement worth up to $6.3 billion for SM-3 interceptors on Oct. 8. Raytheon said the SM-3 contract supported urgent replenishment of missile defense inventories used in combat, although it did not specifically attribute the orders to Iran. Both agreements were announced after the third quarter ended.

RTX also booked approximately $4.7 billion in Patriot interceptor orders for Ukraine and Poland during the second quarter, according to its filings. Lockheed Martin separately received a contract worth up to $35 billion in June to expand THAAD interceptor production.

Defense manufacturers have also begun pursuing substantial production increases. RTX announced agreements with the Pentagon in February designed to eventually raise annual production to more than 1,000 Tomahawk missiles, at least 1,900 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles and more than 500 SM-6 missiles.

Those figures represent production targets rather than current manufacturing output, meaning significant additional capacity will be necessary to fulfill the planned increases.

Even with increased manufacturing output, rebuilding depleted missile defense inventories would likely take at least five years, the CBO estimated, citing historically slow production expansion and delays between contract awards and weapons deliveries.

Northrop Grumman projected sales growth of 5% to 7% in 2027 as it expands production on major military programs. CEO Kathy Warden pointed to investments in manufacturing capacity as necessary to support future growth, while RTX executives identified supply chain constraints involving rocket motors, castings and circuit boards as obstacles to increasing production.

The Daily Caller News Foundation contacted RTX, Northrop Grumman and the Department of Defense for comment, but none responded.