The US Department of Defense's Missile Defense Agency is increasing the value of a previously awarded contract to Raytheon, a subsidiary of RTX Corp, for a defensive weapon system used by the Navy. Raytheon has received an $8.41 billion non-competitive ceiling increase, raising the total contract value to $11.74 billion. Under the agreement with the agency, Raytheon will manage all variants of the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block missile for the United States and its allies, providing materials, services, engineering, and product support. Raytheon's SM-3 missile is a sea-based and land-based interceptor designed to destroy ballistic missiles in space. The company states that the SM-3's deployment utilizes a technology often likened to "hitting a bullet with a bullet." Work on the contract will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, and Huntsville, Alabama, and is scheduled to continue until October 29, 2029.