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<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Raytheon Technologies Co and Northrop Grumman Corp have won U.S. contracts to continue developing missiles to intercept hypersonic weapons, the Pentagon said on Friday.</p><p>The decision means Lockheed Martin Co., the No. 1 U.S. defense contractor, which had also been competing for a contract, has been eliminated for now from the multibillion dollar progam, but could be pulled back in at a later date.</p>

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced another $1 billion in military aid for Ukraine on Wednesday, following the third meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a group of about 50 nations supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia. “I’m especially pleased to be able to announce today that the United States will provide an additional $1 billion security assistance package for Ukraine,” Austin said at a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, where the members of the group met.

Raytheon Technologies will move its headquarters from Boston's suburbs to Washington, D.C.'s this fall, putting all of the five largest defense companies in National Capital Region. The offices will be in the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington and within sight of the Pentagon. “The location increases agility in supporting U.S. government and commercial customers and serves to reinforce partnerships that will progress innovative technologies to advance the industry,” the company said in a statement. “Washington, D.C., serves as a convenient travel hub for the company’s global customers and employees.” Last month, Boeing last...

It will be years before Raytheon Technologies can build new Stinger shoulder-fired missiles due to a dwindling supply of weapons parts, the company’s CEO said Tuesday. The U.S. has shipped Stingers to Ukraine’s military, which has used them to shoot down Russian aircraft. But there’s only a finite supply as Raytheon has not made Stinger missiles for the U.S. military in nearly two decades. “We're going to have to go out and redesign some of the electronics in the missile and the seeker head,” Raytheon Technologies CEO Greg Hayes told investment analysts Tuesday during the company’s quarterly earnings call. “That's...

It will be years before Raytheon Technologies can build new Stinger shoulder-fired missiles due to a dwindling supply of weapons parts, the company’s CEO said Tuesday. The U.S. has shipped Stingers to Ukraine’s military, which has used them to shoot down Russian aircraft. But there’s only a finite supply as Raytheon has not made Stinger missiles for the U.S. military in nearly two decades. “We're going to have to go out and redesign some of the electronics in the missile and the seeker head,” Raytheon Technologies CEO Greg Hayes told investment analysts Tuesday during the company’s quarterly earnings call. “That's...

https://twitter.com/marcusreports/status/1518937847201476611 https://www.reuters.com/article/ukraine-crisis-stingers-idINL2N2VR2OF Raytheon just said they cannot make any more stinger missiles, all of them have been given to Ukraine and no more can be made because certain parts require rare minerals that are only found in Russia.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Russia’s military capabilities should be degraded after he and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and announced more U.S. military aid to the country. “We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine,” Mr. Austin said Monday after the highest-level visit of U.S. officials to Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Mr. Blinken said: “Russia is failing, Ukraine is succeeding.” In what could be a significant escalation of the conflict on Monday,...

First use of high-speed missiles by Russia in Ukraine sparks renewed urgency for U.S. development. With the first claimed use of a hypersonic weapon by Russia in the invasion of Ukraine, attention is again focusing on defense contractors in the U.S. that are trying to develop their own. Among U.S. defense contractors notable for their efforts are Lockheed Martin (LMT) , Northrop Grumman (NOC) and Raytheon (RTX). The three were picked by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency last November to develop an "accelerated concept design of the Glide Phase Interceptor," to stop incoming vehicles. Lockheed Martin and Raytheon are also...

“At night, Bruce L. Jackson is president of the U.S. Committee to Expand NATO, giving intimate dinners for Senators and foreign officials. By day, he is director of strategic planning for Lockheed Martin Corporation, the world's biggest weapons maker.”

President Biden has signed into law a sweeping $1.5 trillion bill that funds the government through September and provides billions in assistance for Ukraine amid the Russian invasion. Biden signed the legislation during a ceremony in the Indian Treaty Room at the White House on Tuesday afternoon that was attended by administration officials and Democratic lawmakers, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.), and Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.). In prepared remarks, Biden highlighted the Ukraine assistance as well as other domestic programs funded by the massive legislation and said the bill demonstrated that Republicans and Democrats...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional leaders reached a bipartisan deal early Wednesday providing $13.6 billion to help Ukraine and European allies plus billions more to battle the pandemic as part of an overdue $1.5 trillion measure financing federal agencies for the rest of this year. Though a tiny fraction of the massive bill, the money countering a Russian blitzkrieg that’s devastated parts of Ukraine and prompted Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II ensured the measure would pass with robust bipartisan support. President Joe Biden requested $10 billion for military, humanitarian and economic aid last week, and Democratic and Republican...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A U.S. aid package for Ukraine and its Eastern European allies grew to around $14 billion on Tuesday as lawmakers put finishing touches on a $1.5 trillion government-wide spending bill that leaders hope Congress will enact by week's end. Democrats and Republicans rallied solidly behind the Ukraine aid, with Russia's attack devastating parts of the country and prompting Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. Negotiators said the package of military, humanitarian and economic aid to the region had grown close to $14 billion, up from $12 billion just Monday and President Joe Biden's $10 billion...

TOKYO -- Despite fielding a smaller army, Ukrainian forces have put up a tougher response than anticipated to Russia's invasion thanks in no small part to the multitude of Javelin missiles provided by Western nations. Measuring 1.2 meters in length, the Javelin can be transported and fired by a single soldier. Yet the weapon, made by American contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, has enough firepower to pierce tank armor from 2.5 km away. The traits have made the Javelin the weapon of choice for repelling tank invasions in urban settings. A Javelin operator can covertly approach and engage a target...

The big wildcard in today's dramatic escalation in tensions over east Ukraine, is how and when Beijing will react to Putin's announcement recognizing the Donbass region as independent and immediately deploying "peacekeeping" forces to Donetsk and Lugansk. A hint as to what may be coming, came earlier on Monday when China said it would impose new sanctions on U.S. defense contractors Raytheon Technologies and Lockheed Martin due to their arms sales to Taiwan, stepping up a feud with Washington over security and Beijing’s strategic ambitions.Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced the move at a daily press briefing, citing a newly...

Raytheon Technologies (NYSE:RTX) -2.8% post-market following a Bloomberg report that three senior executives in its missiles division - the CFO, VP of contracts and general counsel - have left the company, citing an internal email. Raytheon faces a U.S. Department of Justice probe into cost reporting and other financial issues involving defense contracts at the missiles division dating back several years, but the Bloomberg report does not specifically say that the departures are related. Raytheon said on its Q4 earnings conference call last month that it had made progress in its internal investigation into the matter, but that it had...

Republican senators are unmoved by Tucker Carlson’s relentless warpath against support for Ukraine — even as it widens an existing rift in their party. The Fox News prime time host and others on the far-right have excused and even rationalized Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine and downplayed its relevance to U.S. national security. And while GOP senators are shrugging off his name-and-shame campaign, Carlson’s views are permeating the GOP base in a way that could undermine Republicans’ efforts to emphasize cross-party unity as they seek to deter a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

DEMOCRATS IN THE House of Representatives are planning to expedite a massive bill that would dramatically increase U.S. security assistance to Ukraine and lay the groundwork for substantial new sanctions on Russia — hastening a war-friendly posture without opportunity for dissent as concerns over a military invasion abound. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told members on a caucus call Tuesday that she’s looking to skip marking up the bill and move it straight to the House floor, setting up the possibility of a vote as soon as early next week, two congressional sources told The Intercept. The sources spoke on...

THE TWIN CHALLENGE: At a weekend appearance at the Reagan Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin offered vague promises of U.S. military assistance to Ukraine and Taiwan while stopping short of specifying what the U.S. would do if either country is invaded. The most immediate concern is the massive buildup of Russian forces, armor, and high tech weapons poised on Ukraine’s eastern border, which has every sign of an impending invasion, which could be launched as early as next month with up to 175,000 troops, according to a U.S. intelligence document obtained by the Washington Post....

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Saturday that China's increased military activity near Taiwan seemingly indicates a "rehearsal" of the country's future intentions. Austin made his comment during a keynote discussion with Fox News anchor Bret Baier at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California. Pointing out how China has been launching multiple air operations near Taiwan in recent months, Baier asked Austin, "Do you think that these are training flights for future operations?" Austin noted that he didn't want to speculate, but said, "Certainly, it looks like them exploring what their true capabilities [are], and sure,...