TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Arizona plays an important part in our national defense. Thursday night the President spotlighted a defense manufacturer that is a leading part of our region’s economy.
The weapons Raytheon makes in Tucson are so widely used around the world it should be no surprise they are used in Israel and Ukraine. In his speech Thursday night President Biden called out Arizona’s role in creating those products.
Speaking from the White House Oval Office, President Biden said, “And let me be clear about something: We send Ukraine equipment sitting in our stockpiles. And when we use the money allocated by Congress, we use it to replenish our own stores — our own stockpiles with new equipment — equipment that defends America and is made in America: Patriot missiles for air defense batteries made in Arizona; artillery shells manufactured in 12 states across the country — in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas; and so much more.”
When Biden talks about Patriot Missiles from Arizona, he’s talking about an anti aircraft system made here by Raytheon.
Raytheon also works with Israel to build a different air defense system called Iron Dome.
They are just a sample of Raytheon systems in the Mid East and Ukraine.
Thursday a US Navy Destroyer shot down missiles headed from Yemen towards Israel. The warship used SM-2 missiles also made by Raytheon.
In Ukraine Raytheon anti tank weapons have been critical against Russian armored vehicles. Weapons like the TOW anti tank missile and the Javelin anti tank missile made jointly with Lockheed Martin.
Demand for those systems and many other radars and missiles helped make Raytheon the largest private employer in Southern Arizona with about 12 thousand employees—most of them doing very sophisticated work at high pay.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
