Raytheon, which falls under RTX $RTX, has been awarded a contract worth up to $20.7 billion from the U.S. Department of Defense. That's a hefty sum even by defense company standards.

It involves the production of AMRAAM missiles, used by fighters like the F-16 and F-35 or NASAMS air defense systems. Those, by the way, are also helping defend Ukraine.

Demand for such munitions is huge right now. The Americans and their allies need to replenish stockpiles, and Raytheon is increasing production to that end. The goal is to reach at least 1,900 missiles per year.

And this isn't the only big contract the company has won recently. In August, it received another contract for Tomahawk missiles worth up to $22.9 billion. So altogether we're talking about contracts with a maximum value of over $43 billion within a few weeks.

Of course, that doesn't mean RTX will get all that money right away. The contracts will be fulfilled gradually over the coming years, but thanks to them the company has a much clearer picture of future production and orders.

Does anyone have RTX in their portfolio? And do you hold any defense stocks, or after the growth of recent years do they seem too expensive to you?