Ten fire units for Qatar: ~$5.6B — a contract the U.S. signs on another country's behalf (Raytheon, Army)
The U.S. Army awarded Raytheon ten fire units for Qatar, valued at about $5.61 billion, with performance from December 2014 to May 2025. The buyer is Qatar, yet the parties to the contract are the U.S. Army and a U.S. company — the Foreign Military Sales arrangement, which changes how the public data should be read.
Contract key facts
- RecipientRTX (Raytheon)
- Contract value$5,607,558,999 (≈$5.61B)
- BranchArmy
- Awarding agencyDepartment of Defense
- Awarding sub-agencyDepartment of the Army
- Award typeDEFINITIVE CONTRACT
- Period of performance2014-12-19 〜 2025-05-31
- Contract ID (PIID)W31P4Q15C0022
Contract scope (original)
TEN FIRE UNITS FOR QATAR
Key points
- The Army awarded Raytheon "ten fire units for Qatar," valued at about $5.61 billion ($5,607,558,999 cumulative).
- Period December 19, 2014 to May 31, 2025; award type DEFINITIVE CONTRACT.
- Foreign Military Sales: the buying country agrees with the U.S. government, which orders through its own procurement process.
- A fire unit is an operational grouping of launcher, radar, control equipment, and vehicles — not a count of missiles.
- The equipment name and model are not in the recorded scope, and no outlays are recorded in this data.
- A fire unit bundles launcher, radar, control equipment and vehicles — the figure ten is not a count of rounds.
1Why something "for Qatar" appears in U.S. procurement data
One route by which the United States transfers equipment to partner nations is Foreign Military Sales (FMS). Under it, the buying country does not contract directly with a U.S. company; it reaches an agreement with the U.S. government, which then places the order through its own procurement process. The parties to the contract are therefore the U.S. Army and a U.S. company, while the buying country bears the cost.
That structure is why a contract whose scope reads "FOR QATAR" shows up in U.S. procurement data.
2What "fire unit" counts
A fire unit is an operational grouping — launcher, radar, control equipment, associated vehicles — and it is a different unit of counting from individual missiles. "Ten" here refers to independently operable units, not rounds. The record names neither the system nor the model, so this site does not identify which system it refers to.
3No outlays recorded
This record carries no outlay figure. In FMS contracts, the flow of funds can run through accounts separate from U.S. appropriations, and the outlay field in public data can be empty as a result. Reading execution by placing contract value next to outlays does not transfer cleanly to this kind of contract.
4What "ten" is counting
Fire unit, in the description, is a different unit of count from a single missile. Mistaking one for the other changes how the scale of the contract reads.
The description names neither an equipment designation nor a model, so this site does not identify which system is meant. The record also carries no outlay figure. Under Foreign Military Sales the flow of money can run through accounts separate from US outlays, leaving the outlay column blank. Reading execution by setting the contract value beside outlays does not transfer cleanly to contracts of this kind.
Why it matters
Because transfers to partner nations are recorded as U.S. procurement contracts, reading country or company totals directly as "U.S. defense spending" can overstate them. From the industry side, FMS work is demand separate from the U.S. budget line and helps level production planning. Whether the counterpart country can be picked out of the scope text decides whether that distinction can be made in the public data at all.
FAQ
What data is this?
Is the amount final?
What is Foreign Military Sales?
Does "ten fire units" mean ten missiles?
Sources (primary)
This article is an independent organization based on the U.S. official spending data below. Verify the exact, latest details with the official source.
- USAspending (award details)
- Contract ID (PIID)：W31P4Q15C0022