Raytheon has completed a 17,000 square foot expansion of its manufacturing plant in Forest, Mississippi, backed by a 50 million dollar capital investment. The company announced the milestone on August 28.
The expanded space serves as a hub for production, testing, and integration of Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band pods for the United States Navy and the Australian government. It also supports other airborne radar programs. Raytheon expects the project to create 100 high-skilled jobs by 2028.
With the addition, the Forest site now covers roughly 445,000 square feet, ranking among the largest defense manufacturing facilities in Mississippi. Barbara Borgonovi, president of naval power at Raytheon, said the expansion underscores the company's long-term commitment to Forest and to the state.
The investment is the third facility expansion at Forest in ten years. A 20,000 square foot addition was completed in 2013, and a 50,000 square foot radar production and testing building was completed in 2020. Combined spending across the three projects totals 280 million dollars.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves framed the project as both economic development and a national security investment. United States Senator Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, welcomed the expansion for adding domestic manufacturing capacity that supports military modernization.
Raytheon has operated in the Forest community for 40 years. The work performed at the site covers airborne electronic warfare and radar systems rather than airframe repair, and it sits inside the wider aerospace sustainment and industrial base that supports military fleets.
Source: MRO Business Today - https://mrobusinesstoday.com/raytheon-completes-50-million-expansion-of-mississippi-manufacturing-facility/