The US military is paying RTX's Raytheon big for more Tomahawk missiles. It burned through many of them fighting Iran.

A US Navy destroyer launches a Tomahawk missile against Iran.

US Navy photo The US awarded a massive contract to defense firm RTX to boost Tomahawk missile production.

The $22.9 billion contract will see annual production rise to more than 1,000 missiles.

The announcement comes after US forces in the Middle East launched numerous Tomahawks in strikes against Iran.

The US military has awarded a massive contract to dramatically ramp up the production of Tomahawk cruise missiles , the Pentagon said on Monday, after burning through hundreds of these long-range munitions during the Iran conflict.

The $22.9 billion contract awarded to US defense contractor RTX's Raytheon follows an earlier framework agreement announced in February and will increase annual production to more than 1,000 Tomahawk missiles over a seven-year period.

Acting US Navy Secretary Hung Cao said in a statement that the "landmark" munitions contract "will accelerate Tomahawk missile delivery to our warfighters at unprecedented speed." He said that "by working closely with industry to expand our munitions industrial base's capacity," the Department of Defense "is utilizing every available tool to meet the demands of our current operations, ensuring they are equipped to fight, win, and come home safe." The BGM-109 Tomahawk is a subsonic cruise missile with a standard range of roughly 1,000 miles.

It is in service with the US Navy, the Army, and a small number of American allies .

The long-range weapon can be fired from surface warships and submarines, as well as from ground-based launchers at land targets.

There is also a maritime strike variant.

RTX said in a statement in early February, when the initial framework agreement was announced, that the Tomahawk, which entered service in the 1980s, had been used in "an operational environment" more than 2,300 times.

The US is estimated to have burned through more than 1,000 Tomahawks fighting in the Middle East this year.

US Navy photo The US announced the start of Operation Epic Fury in late February, igniting a fresh conflict with Iran that saw American forces in the Middle East fire numerous Tomahawks.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a US-based think tank, published a report in late May estimating that American forces had already expended more than 1,000 Tomahawks.