Raytheon firing on all cylinders

The first SM-6 missile to roll off the production line at the Redstone Arsenal Raytheon plant. (CONTRIBUTED)

By Aldo Amato

Staff Reporter

REDSTONE ARSENAL  — A local missile manufacturer has exceeded its expectations in just under a year in being in the Tennessee Valley and is looking towards the future in homeland security production.

Raytheon Company, a missile manufacturer located at Redstone Arsenal, broke ground in 2011 and opened up in the Fall of 2012. The plant itself is located near Gate 3 on Redstone Arsenal with all the business units in a separate facility at Research Park.

Plant Manager Angel Crespo said that both locations are key to the success of the company.

“We have two major presences in the Huntsville area,” he said. “It is a very unique place for Raytheon because it houses all of business unites in the same place. There is a lot of great consolidation going on.”

The decision to open a plant on Redstone Arsenal was easy after researching the area Crespo said.

“We looked at the four major components Redstone Arsenal offers,” he said. “We are able to ship our products to the customer by highway ground transportation, by water through the Tennessee River, by air at the Army Airfield and train if we have to. At the moment, we are primarily using ground transportation to deliver our products.”

The local government and education also have made the transition into the Huntsville/Madison area smoother than expected.

“The education in the area is just fantastic,” Crespo said. “Both governments in Huntsville and Madison have been extremely supportive in being great communities for us and our employees.”

Currently there are hundreds of employees at both the plant and the office building on Jan Davis Rd. including around 12 contractors at the Redstone Arsenal location. The two primary missiles that Raytheon produces are called the SM-3 and SM-6 missiles. In February, the company rolled off it’s first SM-6 off the production line and delivered the missile successfully to their customer.

As far as recruiting future employees, Crespo said the company is actively searching for students through the company’s web portal (http://jobs.raytheon.com/) and at local universities like UAH.

“We go and pursue potential candidates and really push them to our websites,” he said. “Locally, we are starting to reach out and UAH is a key candidate. Obviously, military background is a great component to have because that is our customers.”

Crespo said the plant and the Jan Davis Rd. location in Research Park hope to expand in the near future.