Raytheon received a $122.5 million contract from the U.S. Missile Defense Agency for continued development of Standard Missile-3 Block IA and IB programs.

Under this modification, Raytheon will provide SM-3 design and engineering, in service engineering support, production engineering, surveillance and flight test support, and transition to production.

The contract was announced December 22 by the Department of Defense.

Raytheon's SM-3s are designed to defend against short- to intermediate-range ballistic missile threats in the ascent and midcourse phases of flight.

SM-3 Block IA is Raytheon's first variant in the SM-3 family; it is deployed today in support of the first phase of the administration's Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA) for ballistic missile defense.

Raytheon has delivered more than 130 SM-3 Block IAs ahead of schedule and under cost.

The SM-3 Block IB is Raytheon's second variant in the SM-3 family.

The SM-3 Block IB has an enhanced kinetic warhead seeker, throttle-able divert and attitude control system, and advanced signal processing.

Raytheon's SM-3 Block IB is the cornerstone of phase two of the administration's PAA and is on track for a 2015 deployment at sea and ashore.