Raytheon Works Overtime on Missile : Weapons: Production of the Patriot and of Hughes Aircraft’s Maverick have been speeded up because of the Iraq crisis.
Only weeks after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait last August, the Pentagon ordered Raytheon Co. to accelerate production of a new version of the Patriot missile system, one of the first mobilizations of industry during the gulf crisis.
It was Patriot missiles produced in that surge of activity that shot down nine Iraqi Scud missiles over the weekend. Since last August, Raytheon has been operating its plant in Andover, Mass., 24 hours a day, seven days a week, a company spokeswoman and an Army official said Monday.
The Hughes Aircraft Co.’s Maverick missile also was put into accelerated production last September, industry sources said. Maverick missiles carried aboard A-10 Warthog jets have been credited with destroying at least three Scud missile launch sites in the war.
The Patriot and the Maverick, however, are the only two weapons whose production is known to have been accelerated as a result of the Persian Gulf deployment, industry officials said. General Dynamics officials have said they have received no similar orders regarding the Tomahawk cruise missile, which figured so prominently in air attacks in the opening days of the Gulf War.
The defense industry would be hard-pressed to respond to any immediate need for additional weapons, experts say, because it can take up to 24 months to deliver high-technology weapons after an order has been placed. In the case of the Patriot, deliveries were made very quickly because production was simply shifted from an older version of the missile to a new version with a larger warhead and a more sensitive electronic fuse.
Raytheon has orders for 2,200 of these new Patriot 2 missiles, which are considered more effective against tactical missiles, said David Harris, a spokesman at the Army Missile Command. Each missile costs about $500,000, not including the cost of the radar, command center, computers and launch equipment, Harris said.
Before the gulf deployment, Raytheon had been scheduled to start Patriot 2 production this month, but the Army rushed the missile into full production in August. The equipment was quickly shipped to Saudi Arabia and deployed in recent weeks.
Raytheon has 6,000 employees at its Andover plant making Patriot and Hawk missile systems, a company spokeswoman said. Raytheon builds the radar, command center, computers and guidance equipment. Martin Marietta is a major subcontractor, assembling the completed missiles and building the launchers.
Hughes’ Maverick missile comes in two versions: one, guided by an infrared system, for use at night, and another, guided by a television system, for use during the day. Images from a camera in the missile nose are transmitted back to a screen in the cockpit; the pilot guides the missile to its target.
The quicker pace of Maverick and Patriot production has not resulted in any additional orders for the two firms. But investors, growing bullish, bid up the stock of the two contractors Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.
Raytheon closed trading Monday at 74.625, up $4.50. General Motors H-class stock, which reflects investor sentiment about Hughes, closed at $19.375, up 62.5 cents.
