The U.S. Navy has awarded Raytheon a $235 million contract to produce Standard Missile-6 missiles and spares.

Under the contract, the company will provide SM-6 missiles to be deployed on AEGIS-equipped cruisers and destroyers.

The agreement follows several testing and milestone events for the weapon. A demonstration team test-fired the SM-6 at sea in December 2016, verifying the weapon's capability to intercept incoming medium-range ballistic missile attacks.

The missile also set a new record for maximum down-range and maximum cross-range intercepts in over-the-horizon operations. The Navy's new SM-6 units will include an anti-surface capability demonstrated earlier in 2016.

"The SM-6 offers three missions, making it the most affordable missile per defended area and threat set," SM-6 senior program director Mike Campisi said in a press release. "The SM-6 effector continues to perform beyond expectations and beyond its original mission."

Raytheon received funding for the fourth year of full-rate production for the multi-mission missile. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2018.