Raytheon UK’s MQ-9B GPS Contract Is a Foothold, Not a Headline — The JASSM/LRASM Integration Is the Story RTX Needs to Watch

GA-ASI’s move to arm MQ-9B SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian with JASSM and LRASM — Lockheed Martin weapons, not Raytheon’s — signals a platform-level weapons integration race that RTX is currently watching from the sidelines.

The timing is pointed. On March 9, Raytheon UK was awarded a contract to supply approximately 140 Landshield Plus GPS anti-jamming systems for the MQ-9B fleet — a real win, but a subsystem role. One day later, GA-ASI announced the JASSM/LRASM standoff weapons integration that transforms the same platform into a long-range naval strike asset. RTX is supplying the GPS hardening for a drone that will carry a competitor’s missiles. That’s a meaningful distinction for program managers evaluating where Raytheon sits in the MQ-9B value chain: protected sensor supplier, not weapons integrator. The Landshield Plus contract is real revenue, but the weapons slot — historically where margin concentrates on strike platforms — went elsewhere.

This matters for RTX’s autonomous systems thesis precisely because the MQ-9B is becoming the near-term template for armed uncrewed platforms. GA-ASI’s flight tests for JASSM/LRASM integration are planned for 2026, running in parallel with the Air Force’s captive carry weapons tests on Anduril’s YFQ-44A Fury CCA prototype. The unmanned strike market is converging on a short window where weapons-platform pairings get locked in. RTX’s Raytheon segment posted $28.04 billion in 2025 sales and holds a $251 billion backlog, but its autonomous strike weapons integration story remains largely prospective — the Shield AI Hivemind partnership targets Networked Collaborative Autonomy on RTX hardware, and PhantomStrike radar was selected for Air Force autonomous fighters in December 2025, but neither positions Raytheon as the weapons integrator on the dominant near-term uncrewed platform. AMRAAM and SM-6 are air-to-air and naval air defense plays; LRASM is the naval surface strike weapon, and Lockheed owns that slot on MQ-9B.

The broader competitive pressure is real. Pentagon’s Drone Dominance program is procuring 30,000 loitering munitions, Iranian saturation campaigns are reshaping air defense doctrine, and GA-ASI is repositioning MQ-9B as a cruise missile truck — all within the same two-week news cycle. RTX’s counter-UAS position via Coyote Block 3 (which successfully intercepted multiple drone swarms in February 2026 U.S. Army testing) is strong, but counter-UAS and offensive strike are different budget lines, different program offices, and different competitive dynamics. RTX’s DOMINANT rating reflects its backlog depth and vertical integration, but the MQ-9B weapons integration picture is a concrete data point that its offensive autonomous strike role on uncrewed platforms needs development — and the 2026 flight test calendar is filling up without Raytheon in the weapons seat.

BOTTOM LINE

Defense program managers evaluating uncrewed strike platform supply chains should flag that Raytheon’s MQ-9B role is currently limited to GPS anti-jamming subsystems while Lockheed Martin holds the JASSM/LRASM weapons integration position — and brief acquisition leadership before 2026 flight test results harden platform-weapons pairings for follow-on production contracts.

Confidence: MODERATE — The Raytheon UK Landshield Plus contract quantity (140 units) and GA-ASI’s JASSM/LRASM integration announcement are confirmed; specific contract values for the weapons integration work and the timeline for production decisions remain undisclosed.

Source: https://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/2026/03/ga-asi-expands-mq-9b-capabilities-with-long-range-standoff-weapons-naval-strike-roles/

Product Portfolio — RTX

Signal Activity — RTX

Deal History — RTX

Competitive Positioning — RTX