The American manufacturer of Patriot missiles, Raytheon, the world's second-largest arms manufacturer, said it would invest in European production of air defense systems as the company sees a sharp increase in orders for both EU defense and for shipment to Ukraine.
Points of attention
- Raytheon, the world's second-largest arms manufacturer, is scaling up Patriot missile production in Europe to meet the increasing demand for air defense systems from European NATO allies and for shipment to Ukraine.
- The company is investing in building new factories in Germany and Spain to double missile production by 2030, with a focus on meeting high demand for Patriot and other Raytheon weapons.
- Raytheon is also exploring new business opportunities in Ukraine and has resumed production of Stinger missiles in response to high demand due to the war, while planning to introduce the Next-Generation Short-Range Interceptor (NGSRI) in the future.
Raytheon scales up Patriot missile production in Europe
According to Tom Laliberti, head of the Ground and Air Systems division, this encourages Raytheon to collaborate even deeper with weapons manufacturers based in the EU and Ukraine. He noted that Raytheon is now planning further expansion in Europe.
We are working with our supply chains to increase production capacity.
Laliberti noted that building new factories in Europe is critical to meeting high demand for Patriot, whose supply lines stretch back ten years, and other Raytheon weapons.
According to him, factories in Germany and Spain are crucial for European production. In particular, Germany and Switzerland have recently signed large-scale contracts for the purchase of Patriot.
Under the contracts, European NATO allies are expecting an additional 1,000 Patriot missiles, which Laliberti said means Raytheon could double global missile production by 2028 or 2030.
We are also gradually increasing our capacity in the US, but the real leap is in the German capacity.
Raytheon also sees new business opportunities in Ukraine.
The main discussion with the Ukrainian customers is how best to provide them with the systems as quickly as possible. We continue to discuss with (representatives - ed.) their industry the appropriate measures they can take to participate in the production and support of the systems they have and, hopefully, the new systems they will receive.
Raytheon has resumed previously suspended production of Stinger missiles in response to high demand due to the war in Ukraine. Laliberti said production will “most likely” continue even after Raytheon introduces the Next-Generation Short-Range Interceptor (NGSRI), which is intended to replace the Stinger.
