About $2.51B for AMRAAM air-to-air missile production Lot 37 — the highest lot number among the records this site holds as of 2026-08-31, with 22 next (Raytheon, Air Force)

1What a lot number says about time

Serial production of equipment is ordered in annual increments, and numbering those increments in sequence gives the lot number. A figure of 37 means production has reached its thirty-seventh increment. Of the 207 Department of Defense contracts this site holds as of 2026-08-31, 21 carry a lot number in the description. Among them 37 is the highest, followed by 22, then 20, 19 and 18.

A gap of fifteen reflects the difference in years since a program began. Looking at one contract amount alone says nothing about how many years the equipment has been in production.

2The character of an air-to-air missile

AMRAAM is a medium-range missile fired from a fighter at another aircraft, designed to engage targets beyond visual range. Fighters themselves are replaced repeatedly through generational change, while the weapons they carry are used across multiple aircraft types and can stay in production far longer. Among the records this site holds are contracts for the F-35, F-16, F-15 and F/A-18.

Equipment used across those generations does not surface from following airframe records alone.

3The span from award to completion

The period is set from June 2023 to December 2030, more than seven years — anticipating seven years to produce a single lot, on the short side within a distribution where around ten years is most common among the 207 records this site holds as of 2026-08-31. Recorded outlays come to roughly $33 thousand against a contract amount of about $2.51 billion.

Older contracts can carry incomplete outlay records, however, so that column cannot be read as how far execution has progressed.