Stinger, Javelin were the ‘co-MVPs’ early in the war, Raytheon CEO says

 For The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Ending the war in Ukraine could come down to speed — how quickly the White House and Congress can authorize spending on weapons and how fast manufacturers can build them and get them to where they are needed.

The last contract signed with Raytheon Technologies — parent company of Cedar Rapids’ largest employer, Collins Aerospace — from the U.S. Department of Defense for Stinger missiles, for example, was in 2002, according to Greg Hayes, Raytheon CEO and chairman.

Hayes referred to the Stinger and Javelin missile systems — both built by Raytheon — as the “co-MVPs” during the early part of the Ukraine war.

However, he noted the first 10 months of the war used up 13 years of Stingers and five years of Javelins.

The Javelin, first used combat in 1996, has “been in continuous production” by Raytheon, in partnership with Lockheed Martin, and currently is being built at a rate of 400 a month, Hayes added.

Hayes spoke during a panel Dec. 3 focused on the Ukraine war and livestreamed from the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, Calif.

It was one of a series of in-person panels and speakers featuring current and former Administration officials, members of Congress, military and business leaders, and national security policy experts held by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Dec. 2 and 3, called “Protecting Peace, Projecting Strength.”

Hayes and another panelist, U.S. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, both highlighted the Biden Administration’s decision to “cut through the bureaucracy” to put National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, commonly referred to as NASAMS, “in country” within 30 days — traditionally a six-month process.

Wormuth added the Administration in the past 10 months has “pushed out $6 billion” in contracts for replenishment of defense systems such as for NASAMS and Excalibur satellite-guided artillery.

Raytheon CEO Gregg Hayes. (Screen grab from Regan National Defense Forum)

Iowa’s U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Ukraine, the United States and its allies are at “a tipping point” in defending democracy.

Ernst argued for a stronger response, saying, “We should be pounding the bloody hell out of (the Russian army through Ukraine) so they don’t pop up again.”

“We need to avoid being penny-wise and pound-foolish” in spending to aid Ukraine’s efforts to push Russia back, Wormuth said.

The Army Secretary added that training on the systems the United States and allies have sent to Ukraine also has been moving faster, shrunken now to a month.

Ernst during the Saturday morning panel urged supplying Ukraine with more advanced weapons, such as General Atomics’ Gray Eagle extended-range unmanned aircraft.

“We can employ this now,” she said. “Why would we not do this?”

Hayes followed up by noting high-energy lasers could be sent to Ukraine to shoot down drones supplied by Iran to Russia, cautioning these would be “political decisions, not military decisions.”

All the panelists — which also included Gen. B. Chance “Salty” Saltzman, chief of Space Operations within the U.S. Space Force — supported multi-year, rather than annual, procurements in the National Defense Authorization Act, to better support U.S. defense efforts.

Wormuth added that change in length of procurements was included in the latest NDAA, which has yet to be approved.

“We need depth in our supply chain,” Hayes said, “get it out to our theater.”