Raytheon, the electronics and defense contracting mainstay has decided to open a new testing and manufacturing facility in Alabama. A project of the missile division of Raytheon will occupy the building. For over 50 years, Raytheon Missile Systems have made Tucson, Arizona home. The Tucson location won’t be closing. Raytheon has a long history of excellence in engineering, especially in defense as they are one of the largest defense contractors within the world.
New plant in Tucson was not feasible
Raytheon Missile Systems required a new facility for testing and building a ship defense project and for a new ship-based interceptor missile as outlined by Business Week. (That’s for shooting other missiles out of the sky.) A new facility in Tucson, due to numerous factors, wouldn’t be ready in time. They picked Huntsville, Ala., from a small list of cities. The groundbreaking and construction will start soon for the $ 75 million, 70,000 square foot building. Those mortgage payments have to be a real pain.
Raytheon focuses on objectives like a laser
Raytheon is able to use lasers as defensive weapons, succeeding where Ronald Reagan could not. Raytheon has designed a defensive laser weapon that can shoot an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle down easily. At a recent test on the California coast, a model of the Laser Area Weapon System shot down 4 UAVs out of the sky, according to CNET. The laser causes the target to burn and fall right of the sky.
A strong legacy
Raytheon was a business with a history of innovation and engineering excellence before they built their first missile. It was Raytheon (then the American Appliance Company) that first developed a gas filled vacuum tube that could power radios by plugging them into the wall, rather than a battery. (Some malcontents still insist vacuum tubes sound better than other things.) Among other Raytheon innovations were radar for naval vessels and the microwave oven.
Citations
news.cnet.com/2300-11386_3-10004204.html?tag=mncol
businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9H3GKRO0.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raytheon
