Promising to grow space for integrating and delivering on critical defense programs by more than 50 percent, the RTX company Raytheon recently broke ground on a $115 million expansion to its Redstone Raytheon Missile Integration Facility in Alabama.
When finished, it should grow the facility by 26,000 square feet and draw approximately 185 new jobs to the area. Primarily, this new work will focus on key missile and defense programs, such as the Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI) – a tool slated to be the first interceptor to counter the threat of hypersonic glide vehicles during the glide phase of flight.
“This important investment in the Huntsville region will help us meet the growing needs of our military customers and service members,” Phil Jasper, Raytheon president, said. “It will also ready our operations to accelerate delivery of our vital counter-hypersonic solution.”
The military contractor’s facility serves the final integration point for various missile programs of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, U.S. Navy and other defense-related customers. First opened in 2012, it now handles the integration of nine variants of the standard missile family.
Redstone’s expansion should finish sometime next year.