{"id":63783,"date":"2026-06-26T08:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T12:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/global-defense-ramps-up-as-raytheon-secures-1-1b-missile-deal-boeing-wins-3-6b-china-order\/63783\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T08:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T12:08:16","slug":"global-defense-ramps-up-as-raytheon-secures-1-1b-missile-deal-boeing-wins-3-6b-china-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/global-defense-ramps-up-as-raytheon-secures-1-1b-missile-deal-boeing-wins-3-6b-china-order\/63783\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Defense Ramps Up as Raytheon Secures $1.1B Missile Deal; Boeing Wins $3.6B China Order"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>RTX Corporation (<a href=\"\/stock\/RTX\">RTX<\/a>) unit Raytheon secured a $1.1 billion U.S. Navy contract<\/strong> to produce AIM-9X Block II missiles, while simultaneously <strong>boosting annual production capacity to 2,500 units<\/strong> to meet surging global demand.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Boeing (<a href=\"\/stock\/BA\">BA<\/a>) landed a significant $3.62 billion order<\/strong> from China Southern Airlines for seven freighter aircraft, signaling a potential thaw in U.S.-China aviation trade.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Unilever (<a href=\"\/stock\/UL\">UL<\/a>) is reportedly exploring a $4 billion acquisition<\/strong> of U.S. supplement maker <strong>Thorne<\/strong>, marking a major strategic push into the high-growth wellness and nutrition sector.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A powerful 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck Mindanao, Philippines<\/strong>, acting as a major aftershock to the devastating 7.8-magnitude event earlier this month.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Russia and Ukraine completed a 160-for-160 prisoner exchange<\/strong> mediated by the United Arab Emirates, marking one of the largest humanitarian swaps in recent months.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Defense and Aerospace Momentum<\/h2>\n<p>RTX Corporation (<a href=\"\/stock\/RTX\">RTX<\/a>), through its Raytheon business, has been awarded a <strong>$1.1 billion contract modification<\/strong> by the U.S. Navy. The deal focuses on the production of <strong>AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder missiles<\/strong>, including hardware, software, and support for both domestic use and <strong>Foreign Military Sales (FMS)<\/strong> to over 35 allied nations. To address the &quot;high-threat environments&quot; cited by leadership, Raytheon is aggressively <strong>scaling its production capacity to 2,500 missiles per year<\/strong>, with the majority of manufacturing centered in <strong>Tucson, Arizona<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In a parallel boost for the U.S. aerospace sector, Boeing (<a href=\"\/stock\/BA\">BA<\/a>) secured a commitment from <strong>China Southern Airlines<\/strong> for at least <strong>$3.62 billion<\/strong> in aircraft. The deal includes <strong>two B777F and five B777-8F freighters<\/strong>, with options for three additional units that could bring the total value to <strong>$5.24 billion<\/strong>. This order is a critical win for Boeing as it seeks to reclaim market share in China, where orders had largely dried up over the last decade due to geopolitical tensions.<\/p>\n<h2>Consumer Goods and M&amp;A<\/h2>\n<p>Unilever (<a href=\"\/stock\/UL\">UL<\/a>) (<a href=\"\/stock\/ULVR\">ULVR<\/a>) is reportedly among the bidders for <strong>Thorne<\/strong>, a health-tech and supplement company currently owned by private equity firm <strong>L Catterton<\/strong>. According to reports from the <em>Financial Times<\/em>, the deal could be valued at up to <strong>$4 billion<\/strong>. This move follows Unilever&#39;s recent acquisition of <strong>Gr\u00fcns<\/strong> and signals a shift toward premium health brands, moving away from its traditional focus on slow-growth consumer staples.<\/p>\n<h2>Geopolitical and Natural Disasters<\/h2>\n<p>On the diplomatic front, <strong>Russia and Ukraine<\/strong> successfully exchanged <strong>160 prisoners of war each<\/strong> on Friday. The swap, conducted in <strong>Belarus<\/strong> with humanitarian mediation from the <strong>United Arab Emirates<\/strong>, returns 160 servicemen to each side. This development comes amid reports from <em>RIA<\/em> that former Russian Defence Minister <strong>Sergei Ivanov<\/strong> has passed away at the age of 73; Ivanov was a key figure in the early Putin administration and a former head of the presidential office.<\/p>\n<p>In the Philippines, a <strong>6.7-magnitude earthquake<\/strong> jolted the region 21 km west-southwest of <strong>Sarangani<\/strong> at a depth of 65.7 km. The <strong>USGS<\/strong> and <strong>GFZ<\/strong> reported the tremor as a significant aftershock to the <strong>7.8-magnitude quake<\/strong> that struck Mindanao on June 8. While no immediate casualties were reported from today&#39;s event, the region remains on high alert for further seismic activity and potential tsunamis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways RTX Corporation (RTX) unit Raytheon secured a $1.1 billion U.S. Navy contract to produce AIM-9X Block II missiles, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[19128,2665,3767,4031,5067,5230,5299,5349,13997,17209],"class_list":["post-63783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-philippinesearthquake","tag-fms","tag-ba","tag-rtx","tag-russia-ukraine","tag-defense","tag-financial-news","tag-aerospace","tag-ul","tag-ulvr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}