The contracts include the production of missiles, spare parts, and system and design engineering efforts. Raytheon will deliver the first missiles in early 2011.

"Low rate initial production begins our process of delivering this integral weapon system to the warfighter," said Frank Wyatt, vice president of Raytheon's Air and Missile Defense Systems product line. "Standard Missile-6 remains on schedule, and we brought in the first three years of production well under the Navy's budget."

SM-6 is being developed to meet the U.S. Navy's requirement for an extended-range anti-air warfare missile. The system will provide a defensive capability against fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and anti-ship cruise missiles.

"Standard Missile-6 is in development testing now and will go into operational testing in fiscal year 2011, with initial operational capability by March 2011," said Wyatt.

"SM-6 is capable of over-the-horizon air defense and takes full advantage of the kinematics available to the Standard Missile family, allowing the use of both active and semiactive modes and advanced fuzing techniques."

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