Raytheon won’t resume mass production of Stinger missiles until 2023

Raytheon Technologies will not be able to accelerate production of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles before 2023 due to lack of available parts, the boss of the defense company warned on Tuesday.

Western countries have sent Ukraine thousands of surface-to-air missiles and their shoulder launchers, which are effective against helicopters and low-flying planes. Washington has promised 1,400.

But stocks have dwindled and replenishing them will take time.

Raytheon had stopped manufacturing the missile before a $340 million order was placed last summer by the Pentagon on behalf of an international client.

The defense contractor is restarting the production line, “But we have a very limited stock of material for the production of Stinger”, CEO Greg Hayes said in a call with analysts.

The manufacturer has worked with the US Department of Defense on the issue but “unfortunately the DoD has not purchased a Stinger in about 18 years, and some of the components are no longer commercially available,” he said. declared.

As a result, Raytheon will have to redesign some of the electronics.

The company will “increase production” as much as possible this year, but it will likely be 2023 or 2024 before “we actually see orders coming in for larger restocks, both on Stinger as well as Javelin, which has also been very successful in theater,” Hayes said.

The Javelin is produced by a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

Raytheon lowered its sales forecast for the year due to sanctions against Russia, which prevent it from selling new products or providing maintenance services there.

The quarterly results include a charge of about $300 million on its commercial aviation divisions.

But Raytheon expects to see its sales of defense systems increase as countries increase their military budgets and replenish the stockpiles of weapons they have sent to Ukraine “over the next two years”, a- he declared.