The Department of War on Friday announced nearly $1.43 billion in new contracts that strengthen America’s nuclear enterprise, accelerate modernization, and expand production capacity across the defense industrial base.
The awards reflect Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s aggressive push to rebuild America’s nuclear backbone and move the Pentagon onto a wartime production footing.
The largest award issued is for one of the Pentagon’s most important nuclear modernization programs.
Lockheed Martin received a $453,960,636 modification for the Mk21A reentry vehicle, raising the total value of the program to $1,482,875,038.
The Mk21A is the high-tech “warhead delivery shell” for America’s next-generation ICBMs, the component that carries a nuclear warhead back through the atmosphere at hypersonic speed.
Hegseth has placed extraordinary emphasis on expanding America’s nuclear readiness and production capacity.
At Washington, D.C.’s National War College on Nov. 7, he made the mission clear:
“It’s not just about what we can make. It’s how much of it we can make, how quickly, and how quickly we can deliver it.”
Nuclear sustainment received additional support through a second major award.
The Army issued a $90 million contract to MPR Associates for nuclear facility support across the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division.
These facilities form a critical part of the Army’s infrastructure, ensuring long-term safety, resilience, and continuity of nuclear-related operations.
Hegseth’s broader acquisition reforms — which he calls the “Arsenal of Freedom” agenda — are designed to eliminate bottlenecks and accelerate programs exactly like these.
“This is about fundamentally reshaping our approach from concept to delivery,” he said in his address.
Beyond the nuclear enterprise, the new contracts also bolster America’s global power projection and foreign military support.
Northrop Grumman secured a $303.6 million foreign military sales award to repair and return F-16 radar components for allies including Taiwan, Greece, Korea, and others.
The work keeps allied fighters mission-ready in volatile regions.
Hegseth underscored this demand:
“President [Donald] Trump is securing deal after deal to bring cold, hard cash to American manufacturers, but our processes are too slow and our industrial base too inefficient to keep up and deliver on time to our allies.”
The Department of War also invested heavily in key munitions and infrastructure.
Red Eagle 3 JV received a $22.8 million contract to replace the Pine Bluff Arsenal waterline, a major upgrade for one of the military’s most important sites for chemical defense and munitions work.
For the Navy, Peraton earned a $17.5 million contract to advance the Theater Mission Planning Center, the precision mission-planning engine for naval aviation.
The Air Force awarded Altus Technology Solutions $175 million for operations and maintenance at Melrose Air Force Range, supporting aerial gunnery, ground training, MOUT facilities, wildland fire response, paramedics, and advanced range systems.
These modular, multitrack programs reflect the procurement model Hegseth is imposing across the Pentagon.
As he said in his reforms, “We will foster competition, embrace modularity, and pursue multi-source procurements at every opportunity, moving fast to contract, test, scale, and deploy when the solution is clear.”
Additional awards include an $84.7 million foreign military sales modification to Lockheed Martin for the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, and a $248 million expansion to Matheny Motor Truck Co. under the DLA trucks and trailers program.
And a $28.7 million contract to OFD Foods for reduced-cholesterol dehydrated egg mix used across the force.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
