BizTucson Spring 2022 - Special Section Raytheon

SPECIAL REPORT 2022

THE REGION’S BUSINESS MAGAZINE

66 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

www.BizTucson.com

68 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

www.BizTucson.com

70 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

www.BizTucson.com

www.BizTucson.com

Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 71

BizMILESTONE

72 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

www.BizTucson.com

Marking

Years in Tucson, Arizona

By Romi Carrell Wittman

On Feb. 3, 1951, nearly the entire front page of the Arizona Daily Star was centered on one monumental news story: Work begins on Hughes defense plant.

Hughes Aircraft Company, founded by famed aviator, movie mogul and industrialist Howard Hughes, launched Tucson from a small desert town of roughly 46,000 people to what it is today – home to a global de-

fense giant that is now the kingpin of the entire Southern Arizona economy.

And yet, the plant was almost built in Phoenix.

Fearing his plant in Culver City, Calif. was vulnerable to attack during the Korean War, Hughes sought an inland location for his next manufacturing facility. He considered locations throughout the West, from continued on page 75 >>>

www.BizTucson.com

Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 73

BizMILESTONE

1950s 1951

Howard Hughes establishes missile manufacturing operations in Tucson to build the Falcon, the world’s first air-to-air radar-guided missile

1952

U.S. Air Force purchases Hughes Tucson operations and designates the site Air Force Plant 44 First Falcon delivered to the U.S. Air Force (Sept. 29, 1952)

1957

Employment level reaches 5,700 (peak Falcon production)

1960s

1965

Falcon production completed; employment drops to lowest level of 1,300

1966

Engineering development center established in Canoga Park, Calif., and development of Maverick missile begins

1969

Production begins on the TOW (Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided) anti-tank missile for the Army

Timeline & Photos: courtesy Raytheon Missile & Defense

74 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

www.BizTucson.com

“

We’ve created a hub of technology right here in our own backyard in Tucson.

”

Wesley D. Kremer President Raytheon Missiles & Defense –

1970s

Maverick 1971

Hughes competes against Chrysler and wins TOW “winner-take-all” award to be sole producer of 100,000 TOW missiles

1972

Production begins on the Phoenix missile, a long-range missile defense system for the U.S. Navy and on the Maverick missile, an air-to-surface missile for the U.S. Air Force and Navy

1972

PHOTOS COURTESY RAYTHEON MISSILES & DEFENSE

continued from page 73 Arizona to Texas, with Phoenix, Colorado Springs, Colo. and Albuquerque, N.M. at the top of the list. When Hughes zeroed in on an 1,800-acre parcel near Phoenix, word got out and land speculation drove prices sky high – to more than $1,000 an acre.

Tucson’s civic leaders, including real estate executive Roy Drachman and Tucson Airport Authority’s Monte Mansfield, saw a lucrative opportunity. But they knew they had to do something bold to entice the aviator to build here. So began an intense lobbying campaign, including 10 days of site tours and top-secret meetings with Hughes.

But the icing on the cake was likely the deal that Drachman, Mansfield and other leaders were able to broker: TAA would sell Hughes roughly 2,400 acres of land at a cost of $50 per acre.

And so, the decision was made. The plant would be built in Tucson by the Del E. Webb Construction Company. The original facility, known as Building 801, was completed in October 1951 and contained 13 acres under one roof.

The company retained the name Hughes Aircraft Company until 1997, when Raytheon Company acquired Hughes’ defense business. The Tucson operation was renamed Raytheon Missile Systems, a name it maintained until 2020, when Raytheon Company and United Technologies merged to form one of the largest aerospace and defense companies in the world. The parent organization became Raytheon Technologies. With annual revenues of more than $64.6 billion and an employee roster of 181,000, Raytheon Technologies comprises four business units: Pratt & Whitney, Collins Aerospace, Raytheon Intelligence & Space and the Tucson-headquartered Raytheon Missiles & Defense. continued on page 76 >>>

Missile Systems Group formed with headquarters and engineering in Canoga Park, Calif., and manufacturing operations in Tucson. Employment increases to 3,100

1980s

AMRAAM 1981

Development begins on the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) for the U.S. Air Force and Navy

1985

General Motors purchases parent company Hughes Aircraft Company for $5 billion

1986

Employment reaches 9,000

1989

500,000th TOW delivered to the U.S. Army

continued on page 76 >>>

Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 75

BizMILESTONE

Raytheon Technologies

continued from page 75

RAM

continued from page 75 1991

Employment drops to 5,500 as defense budget declines, production levels reduced

1992

Hughes Aircraft acquires General Dynamics missile business including Tomahawk Cruise Missile, Phalanx Close-in Weapon Systems, Rolling Airframe Missile, Standard Missile, Advanced Cruise Missile, Sparrow and Stinger missiles

1992

Hughes consolidates all missile engineering and manufacturing operations in Tucson.

More than 2,500 families move to Tucson from California

1993

Additional facility space leased at former IBM site at Rita Road (later becomes UA Tech Park)

1993

Hughes wins U.S. Army award for the Lightweight Exoatmospheric Projectile, paving the way for missile defense systems capable of intercepting warheads in space

1994

Tucson employment reaches 8,000

1997

Raytheon Company acquires defense business of Hughes Aircraft Company, including Tucson operations

1997

More missile programs move to Tucson from Raytheon sites in the Northeast and former Texas Instruments in Texas, including Joint Standoff Weapon, Paveway guided munition, Javelin anti-tank weapon, and High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile

1999

In its first intercept test, an Exo-atmospheric Kill Vehicle scores a direct hit on a mock warhead in space

continued on page 78 >>> 76 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

By the Numbers

181,000 employees

$64.6B pro forma adjusted revenue (2020)

$7.5B

annual company-and customer-funded research and development

61,000 engineers

PHOTOS COURTESY RAYTHEON MISSILES & DEFENSE

1990s

In its 70 years in Tucson, Raytheon Missiles & Defense has had an immeasurable impact in the region.

It has contributed more than $2.6 billion in economic impact statewide each year. As Tucson’s single largest private employer, it provides high-wage jobs to more than 12,500 employees. It also supports other businesses by spending more than $600 million annually with local suppliers. Of that, some $300 million in business is with small and diverse suppliers.

“I have a mantra that I’ve had since the first day I arrived and it’s ‘What have we done for Raytheon today?’” said Joe Snell, president and CEO at Sun Corridor Inc., the region’s economic development arm. “We need to adopt that, from our elected officials to all of our businesses, because they are the largest private employer in Southern Arizona − definitely the granddaddy of them all in the Tucson metro area − and everything good or bad derives from their presence here.”

The recent merger of Raytheon Company with United Technologies has meant meaningful growth for the Tucson facility. The socalled ‘merger of equals’ has resulted in a company worth roughly $121 billion and it was the largest merger ever in the aerospace and defense sector..

Commenting on the merger, Raytheon Missiles & Defense President Wes Kremer said, “To bring the legacy missile systems and integrated defense systems into [what is] now Raytheon Missiles & Defense … to be able to put together the premier radar house with the premier missile house … I’m most excited about the capability [this represents].”

While its headquarters are in Tucson, the business unit employs more than 30,000 people worldwide and posts annual sales of $15 billion. It has six divisions: Air Power, Counter-UAS, Hypersonics, Land Warfare and Air Defense,

46,000 patents

190+

years of combined innovation and industry leadership

continued on page 78 >>> www.BizTucson.com

2000s

Standard Missile-3

continued from page 76 2000

Employment reaches 10,100; annual sales reach $2.8 billion

2002

First Standard Missile-3 flight test

2004

Raytheon delivers 250,000th Paveway Laser-Guided Bomb

2008

A reconfigured Raytheon Standard Missile -3 shoots down failed satellite

2010s

Laser Phalanx illustration 2010

Phalanx sensors used in laser shootdown of airborne targets

2010

Annual sales reach $5.7 billion; total employment of 12,500 in Tucson and at five offsite locations

2011

Raytheon Missile Systems acquires KTech in New Mexico to enhance directed energy capabilities

2011

Raytheon Missile Systems breaks ground for new missile defense facility in Huntsville, Ala.

2011

Raytheon Missile Systems celebrates 60 years in Tucson

78 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

continued from page 76 Strategic Missile Defense and Naval Power.

Hypersonics, in particular, represent the future of the defense industry and Raytheon, Kremer said. While hypersonic technology has existed in the United States for decades, it hasn’t been deployed in the defense industry here until recently.

Hypersonic weapons are those that travel at speeds greater than Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. The benefits of hypersonic technology are manifest: much faster, more agile missiles with longer ranges. Misty Holmes, Raytheon’s executive director of the hypersonic campaign, said these missiles’ ability to maneuver is what makes them unique. “That’s really what differentiates them from traditional ballistic missiles,” she said.

Other nations actively have been investing in hypersonic missile defense technology for some time, leaving the United States to play catch up. Recently, President Joe Biden committed $3.8 billion to defense-related hypersonics research.

Raytheon’s work on hypersonics is ongoing, with modeling, prototyping and range testing yet to be completed.

While Raytheon’s status as a defense leader – and as Tucson’s largest private employer – is well known, the defense giant has become a major force in the community. Its employees contribute more than 60,000 volunteer hours to local non-profits. In addition, Raytheon is also a driving force in education and workforce development organizations. This, of course, benefits Raytheon because it means the company can cultivate a highly qualified pool of local talent. It also benefits Tucson residents in many ways, chiefly by offering access to high-quality science, technology, engineering and math educational paths.

Raytheon invests heavily in university partnerships, collaborations that support, research, manufacturing and the development of next-

generation technologies – like hypersonics.

To this end, the company has collaborated with all three Arizona universities and, in 2020, it announced a hypersonics collaboration with the University of Arizona.

Raytheon even assisted UArizona in obtaining federal and state funds to upgrade its wind-tunnel testing facilities, which the company has used extensively. In addition, Raytheon is working with UArizona to develop academic curriculum and research programs in hypersonic engineering with the goal of fostering talent and the next generation of innovators.

“As we continue to grow, we will need top talent,” Kremer said.

Raytheon is also fostering talent before college, by investing in the high schools and through the Pima Joint Technical Education District, where it funded a namesake event center at the brand-new Pima JTED @ The Bridges.

“I would say Raytheon has set the bar for leadership in inspiring other local companies to engage at many different levels,” said Pima JTED Superintendent Kathy Prather. “They really have taken that leadership role and the other organizations are seeing that and I think it’s safe to say we have more engagement right now than we have ever seen before in our business and industry advisory committees.”

Kremer is proud of what Raytheon has accomplished, as well as the company’s significant contributions to Arizona. At the same time, he’s grateful to the local community, saying none of the company’s success would have been possible without the support of the Southern Arizona region.

“We’ve created a hub of technology right here in our own backyard in Tucson,” he said. “I’m really proud to be the leader of this great organization.”

Biz www.BizTucson.com

PHOTOS COURTESY RAYTHEON MISSILES & DEFENSE

Biz MILESTONE Biz CHARITY

By the Numbers $276M

spent in business with suppliers

502

total suppliers

Tomahawk Cruise Missile 2014

The U.S. Navy awards Raytheon $251-million contract to produce 231 Tomahawk cruise missiles

2015

The $12.7 million Aerospace Parkway project is completed, essentially realigning and moving Hughes Access Road about a half mile south to allow more buffer room for Raytheon’s future expansion.

2016

Raytheon announces plans to bring an additional 1,900 jobs to Tucson over the next five years.

2017

Raytheon is state’s biggest defense contractor and 10th among the states with $4.4 billion in contract spending, according to the Defense Department’s Office of Economic Adjustment.

2018

The first of several new buildings constructed on the main Raytheon campus is unveiled, allowing for continued growth.

2020s

South Gate 2020

Raytheon Company merges with United Technology to become Raytheon Technologies, comprising four business units, including Raytheon Missiles & Defense in Tucson.

2021

Raytheon cuts the ribbon on its new South Gate in its ongoing commitment to the U.S. Air Force of meeting the highest security standards.

www.BizTucson.com

Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 79

PHOTO BY BRENT G. MATHIS

BizMILESTONE

Wesley D. Kremer President Raytheon Missiles & Defense

80 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

www.BizTucson.com

Leadership in Action

Raytheon Missiles & Defense President Wesley D. Kremer

By Romi Carrell Wittman Wes Kremer fondly remembers when he witnessed history.

It was a brisk autumn day in November 2020 at Fort Belvoir near Washington, D.C. Kremer, along with the director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and others, watched as a Standard Missile-3, the first program Kremer ever managed, was launched off a naval ship near the Marshall Islands.

The test, conducted by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. Navy, aimed to see if the SM-3 could intercept an intercontinental ballistic missile target – something many thought was impossible.

“We had the opportunity to prove that this could go beyond the capability of what it was designed for,” said Kremer, president of Raytheon Missiles & Defense.

The assembled crowd watched a live video feed from the missile and witnessed it successfully engage the target in space.

“It was spine-tingling,” Kremer said. “To be part of a team like that and see the teamwork coming together to accomplish a mission everyone thought was impossible…it gives a great sense of pride. I was incredibly proud of our entire team.”

Kremer’s pride in his team – and the entire Raytheon organization – is immediately evident when speaking with him. Leading Raytheon Missiles & Defense, he oversees an operation of 30,000 employees across 30 states and 28 countries. Raytheon’s Tucson facility is a small city in itself that’s home to 12,500 employees. The defense giant’s programs include air-, land-, and sea-based capa-

bilities, as well as strategic missile defense systems.

An electrical engineer by training and a U.S. veteran, Kremer came to Raytheon 19 years ago after an 11-year career in the U.S. Air Force. He said he was drawn to the company after witnessing some of the best engineers in the world. “There’s nothing better than being around smart people that challenge you every day,” he said. “That’s what I like most about Raytheon – the passion.”

Kremer has had many roles at Raytheon and served as president of both Raytheon Missile Systems and Integrated Defense Systems. Those two organizations merged in January 2020, becoming Raytheon Missiles & Defense.

Raytheon Missiles & Defense is one of several divisions of Raytheon Technologies, a defense behemoth that employs more than 180,000 around the globe and posted revenues of more than $64 billion in 2020. Other divisions include Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, and Raytheon Intelligence & Space.

Raytheon’s importance to the region is momentous. The defense powerhouse’s Tucson facility has a $2.6-billion annual economic impact and is Southern Arizona’s largest private employer. The company actively contributes to local workforce development initiatives, particularly in the STEM fields, and its employees give more than 60,000 volunteer hours per year to charitable organizations.

Raytheon is – and has been for 70 years – a kingpin of Southern Arizona. continued on page 82 >>> Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 81

BizMILESTONE continued from page 81 Kremer loves his job and his role at the helm of a defense industry leader.

“We have a lot of employees that connect to our mission of being able to protect our warfighters and our allies around the world,” he said. “I find it very fulfilling, and I’m just really proud to be the leader of this great organization.”

Kremer is equally enthusiastic about the capabilities of the combined organizations under his leadership. “We brought together … the premier radar house with the premier missile house,” he said. “We’re able to go from detecting a threat to actually engaging it.”

Kremer is driven by a desire to solve difficult problems. He feels that, with its sheer size and breadth, Raytheon is uniquely suited to identify and solve the biggest challenges facing customers.

“Ballistic missile defense technology … was developed right here in Tucson,” he said. “When you think about that legacy, it’s really just a phenomenal organization to be a part of.”

Tucson again is poised to be a leader in an emerging technology: hypersonics. While hypersonic technology has existed for decades, its use in the U.S. defense industry is relatively recent. Hypersonic missiles travel at speeds greater than Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. Harnessing this technology for defense will lead to shorter response times and greater accuracy. Raytheon’s Tucson facility is at the forefront of hypersonic defense technology.

“We’ve been making significant investments for several years now and those programs are really starting to come to fruition,” Kremer said.

Raytheon enjoys great collaborative relationships with all three Arizona universities, but given its proximity and expertise, the University of Arizona is central to the company’s development of hypersonics. Raytheon even assisted UArizona in obtaining funding for the construction of wind tunnels, which will be used for modeling and testing of hypersonic designs.

Looking ahead five to 10 years, Kremer said he sees several technologies on the horizon, including speed of light weapons, high-powered microwaves and cyber defense. And he sees the 82 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

need for the latest in high-tech defense systems becoming ever more important.

“The demand for our products is really driven by the threat,” he said.

“More so than ups and downs in the economy, it’s driven by the threat posture and, unfortunately, the world is a pretty threatening and pretty dangerous place. Our mission is to deploy superior technology to the U.S. and our allies to deter war.”

Kremer said none of Raytheon’s many accomplishments would be possible without the time and talent of his team. As such, he believes it’s critical as a leader to empower his staff and to foster more diversity.

“I need my frontline leaders, the people that are on site working directly with the customers, [to have] the ability

“

There’s nothing better than being around smart people that challenge you every day. That’s what I like most about Raytheon – the passion.

”

Wesley D. Kremer President Raytheon Missiles & Defense –

to make decisions in real time,” he said.

“In many cases, they’re going to make better decisions.”

He also believes in cultivating diversity. “As a nation, we need our best and brightest, and we know that diversity makes us better, creates better teams and leads to better solutions,” he added.

To that end, Raytheon is active in the community promoting science, technology and math to younger kids and, hopefully, fostering an excitement and passion in them. The company maintains several partnerships focused on workforce development such as the Pima County Workforce Investment Board, the Workforce Arizona Council and the Pima Joint Technical Education District.

In fact, last November, Raytheon pledged $100,000 in support for a namesake event center at JTED Innovative Learning Center @ The Bridges.

JTED is a public program that supplements traditional high school studies with vocational and other career training for sophomore, junior and seniorlevel high school students.

Another tenet of Kremer’s leadership is creating a ‘freedom to fail’ culture.

“In the defense industry, though we’re working with leading-edge technologies, there’s an adversity to failure,” he said. “We tend to overengineer things.”

But today’s world moves too fast for the old overengineering mindset, he added. “What we’re seeing today … [are] rising threats from China and Russia,” Kremer said. “We need to go faster and in order to go fast, you have to create a climate where it’s okay to fail, to try something and quickly learn from it.”

Digital engineering is key to fostering this climate. Kremer said the processing capabilities and accuracy of today’s digital models allow engineers to not only visualize, but actually model very complex environments to test their systems. “We see incredible accuracy,” he said. “The high fidelity of these models allows you to move faster by having those failures then quickly recovering and moving on.”

He said that younger staff almost innately have this mindset. “A lot of our earlier career employees grew up in the video game era. If you don’t like the way the game is going, you just hit reset,” Kremer said. “In our younger workforce, there’s already that mentality of fail fast and try again. Part of my job as a leader is to foster those kinds of things in our workforce.”

While he’s extremely proud of Raytheon’s work and the technologies being grown in Tucson, he’s also deeply appreciative of the tremendous support the Southern Arizona community has shown the company. “Being a part of this community gives us an incredible sense of pride. It’s a great place we can all call home.”

Biz www.BizTucson.com

www.BizTucson.com

Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 83

BizMILESTONE

“A group of Tucsonans drool over the contract which brought Hughes Aircraft plant to Tucson in 1951.

L. to R., standing: Homer Boyd, chairman of the Pima County board of supervisors; Ed Goyette, secretary of the Tucson Chamber of Commerce; and Monte Mansfield, president of the Tucson Airport Authority. Seated: Roy P. Drachman and Joe Neiman, Mayor of Tucson. These men secretly negotiated the arrangements to bring the company to Tucson, but none of them ever dealt with Howard Hughes.”

From Roy Drachman’s book, “From Cowtown to Desert Metropolis: Ninety Years of Arizona Memories.”

Photo courtesy of Arizona Historical Society/Tucson, Roy Drachman Family Collection, #19

Roy Drachman

The Man Who Brought Hughes Aircraft to Tucson

By David B. Pittman Roy Drachman was a legend in his own time. Well before his death at age 96 in 2002, he was widely known as “Mr. Tucson.”

The real estate broker, developer and philanthropist donated the money to purchase Agua Caliente Park. He helped convert a private tuberculosis center into Tucson Medical Center.

He influenced Major League Baseball teams to come to Tucson for spring training. He was the founding father of the Tucson Conquistadores and a 84 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

supporter of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson, with the Roy Drachman Clubhouse named in his honor. And he was the first person to make a $1 million contribution to the University of Arizona, donating $3 million to the university over his lifetime.

Tucson was forever changed in many ways by Drachman.

But Drachman’s greatest accomplishment on behalf of the Old Pueblo was the persistent campaign he orchestrated that convinced Howard Hughes to

build a huge electronics and defense plant in Tucson. It began a year and a half before the Feb. 2, 1951 announcement that Hughes Aircraft Company (now Raytheon) would locate its facility in Tucson.

Drachman provided his version of the recruitment of Hughes to Tucson in his book, “From Cowtown to Desert Metropolis: Ninety Years of Arizona Memories.” The book was a compilation of weekly columns called “Memory Lane” that Drachman provided to

This article originally appeared in the Fall 2011 edition of BizTucson.

Ph

ytheon

urtesy Ra

Photo: co

www.BizTucson.com

–

”

The late Roy Drachman

offices and had stopped at the first phone booth he came across, and the matter was a very hush-hush deal,” wrote Drachman.

He grabbed his bag and was off for Phoenix, where he would spend the next 10 days with Hughes executives.

In about three weeks it was announced that Hughes would build a manufacturing facility in Tucson.

Drachman said the men from Hughes were suspicious of everything and everybody. Consequently, their meetings were never conducted in offices, but in airport hangars, restaurants and private homes – and only at night, so people couldn’t see who was coming and going.

Drachman was convinced this cloak and dagger attitude “came down from the very top of the company, which, of

s Hughe

course, was Howard Hughes himself.

He was a strange character in many ways and no doubt influenced the thinking and conduct of his executives.”

Drachman recalled his first meeting with Ira Eaker, Hughes’ top negotiator.

After arriving in Tucson in a Hughes company plane, Eaker, a former general in the U.S. Army Air Corps, was taken to the Pioneer Hotel, where a suite had been arranged for him.

“While we were looking at maps and discussing airport land and other details, he (Eaker) suddenly hushed us all and asked if the room ‘was secure.’ It looked as if it was to me, but a couple of the Hughes people started looking for microphones in the back of the drapes and pictures, up in the light fixtures, under the bed, and behind the furniture.”

At Eaker’s insistence, the meeting was shifted to a back booth at a local restaurant, where Drachman said everyone spoke in “hushed tones.”

Auto dealer Jim Click said Drachman discussed his efforts to recruit Hughes to Tucson with him on several occasions.

“When the Hughes entourage visited Phoenix to see what that city had to offer, Roy went with them,” said Click.

“The Phoenix people didn’t want him there, but the Hughes people were so close to Roy by that time that they insisted he accompany them wherever they went. Roy got a big kick out of that. He thought it was funny.”

The Hughes people wanted information on a wide variety of subjects, such continued on page 86 >>> Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 85

Photo: Keystone/Getty Images

“

Howard Hughes was a strange character in many ways and no doubt influenced the thinking and conduct of his executives.

Howard

20 years the Webb Company did over a billion dollars’ worth of work for Hughes.”

Events leading to Hughes Aircraft’s arrival in the Old Pueblo came fast and furious beginning on Jan.12, 1951, when Drachman got a call from Del Webb, who asked him to meet a couple of Hughes Aircraft executives at the Phoenix airport in three hours. Webb informed Drachman that the Hughes men would be gathering information about Phoenix, Tucson, Albuquerque and El Paso as possible sites for the new facility.

“Del said he had just left the Hughes

Aviatio n Pione er

the Tucson Citizen.

Drachman and Hughes would never meet. All of the work done by Drachman and others representing Tucson was forwarded to Hughes through intermediaries. In 1951, the reclusive and unpredictable Hughes was still at the controls of Hughes Aircraft.

Drachman was fortunate to have a source inside Hughes’ company, good friend and former Tucsonan Axel Johnson, an architect who oversaw construction for Hughes Aircraft. Johnson informed Drachman that Hughes was in the beginning stages of designing a defense and electronics plant of more than 500,000 square feet for an undetermined inland location.

Drachman immediately started selling Tucson, sending promotional brochures and information about Tucson to executives at Hughes’ headquarters in Culver City, Calif.

Drachman, a consultant to the Del Webb Company, a large general contractor that did work throughout the country, told L.C. “Jake” Jacobson, president of Del Webb, about Hughes’ construction plans. Jacobson became fascinated with the prospect of becoming Hughes’ principle contractor. At Jacobson’s request, Drachman agreed to help him get acquainted with Johnson.

“For the next three weekends, Jake had his company plane pick me up in Tucson on Friday afternoon and join him in L.A. to entertain Axel” and his wife, wrote Drachman. “As a result of these efforts, Del Webb (founder and owner of the company that bore his name) became acquainted with Howard Hughes, and over the next

BizMILESTONE continued from page 85 as the quality of schools, cultural and entertainment opportunities, the cost of housing and the availability of skilled and educated labor. They wanted to know about the price of raw, undeveloped land. Drachman found out why at a meeting at the home of Monte Mansfield, a Tucson auto dealer who headed the Tucson Airport Authority. It was at this meeting that Drachman said Eaker announced: “The boss has decided that Tucson is where the new plant will be built,” provided that Hughes himself receive options on large amounts of land adjacent to the airport by 2 p.m. the next day.

“Monte (Mansfield) turned to me and said, ‘Roy, you’ve got a job to do tomorrow morning.’ I recognized I had a responsibility. I had no idea who owned those properties, how many owners I had to deal with, nor if they lived in Tucson or Timbuktu.”

The next day, armed with a list of property titles, Drachman tracked down the landowners and secured op-

86 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

tions on the needed properties.

“I finally ended up with 32,000 acres of raw land under option around Tucson,” wrote Drachman.

On Feb. 2, 1951, the announcement was made: A huge Hughes Aircraft manufacturing facility would be built in Tucson and it would be constructed by the Del Webb Co. Ed Biggers, a former president of Hughes Missile Group, and Taylor W. Lawrence, president of Raytheon Missile Systems, said the plant was initially intended to be built in Colorado Springs.

“I understand it was headed for Colorado Springs and it was Drachman that kind of turned things around,” said Lawrence. “Our Building 801, the big building, is built to withstand 10 feet of snow because it was originally designed to be constructed in Colorado Springs.

So we’re in good shape if Tucson ever gets 10 feet of snow.”

A few days after the announcement that Hughes was coming to Tucson,

Drachman received a call from Webb.

“Del called me and said that Howard Hughes had thanked him for the job his people did in making the necessary arrangements for Hughes’ negotiators to come to Tucson and obtain the options for the land,” wrote Drachman. “But, Del told me, ‘Hughes said he would not pay any commissions for the real estate – he didn’t like real estate brokers.’ ” Webb told Drachman something would be worked out.

When Tex Thornton, a Hughes executive Drachman had become well acquainted with, heard that Hughes had refused to pay the commissions, he devised a scheme to make certain Drachman was paid.

Thornton “remarked that he knew I had worked too hard not to be paid,” wrote Drachman in his book. “He said the amount, about $95,000, would be added to Webb’s contract for the construction of the building and Webb could then pay me, which was done.”

Biz

www.BizTucson.com

www.BizTucson.com

Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 87

88 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

www.BizTucson.com

www.BizTucson.com

Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 89

Six Product Lines of Raytheon Missiles & Defense

1

2

From submarine launches under the sea to intercepts of ballistic missile targets in the outer reaches of space, the products produced by Raytheon Missiles & Defense span every mission area of its customers.

The business is structured by product lines – four focused on production programs and two focused on research and development efforts: 1. Air Power Military leaders require systems that allow them to dominate the airspace across every mission phase. Our ground-based sensors provide persistent wide-area defense and space surveillance, while our air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons deliver power and precision to fourthand fifth-generation fighters.

2. Counter-UAS When our customers need to defend against drones, the answer can range from simply knowing they’re thereto carrying out a complex counterattack. Our portfolio of sensors and effectors, networked into a command-and-control system, covers the complete counter-unmanned aircraft systems mission with an integrated and layered defense.

3

3. Hypersonics Hypersonic weapons are one of the most prolific emerging threats. Pioneering a unique, comprehensive approach using advanced technologies, we are partnering across the industry to develop solutions aimed at detecting, tracking and ultimately defeating modern hypersonic weapons.

4. Land Warfare & Air Defense Land Warfare & Air Defense provides proven capabilities ranging from precision weapons to integrated air and missile defense to the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps and over 50 international partners worldwide. LW&AD is committed to providing next-generation, cross-domain solutions to counter evolutionary threats 5. Strategic Missile Defense Protecting people, places and the principle of sovereignty itself takes technologically advanced sensors, satellites and interceptors, working in layers to defeat all types of threats. Our breakthrough missile defense technologies enable a system to see farther and guide interceptors to their targets with even greater precision.

4

5

6

6. Naval Power Naval forces must evolve rapidly to address increasingly sophisticated threats being ushered in by great power competition. Raytheon Missiles & Defense is closing the “detect-control-engage” loop in the maritime domain with advanced sensors, command and control and weapons to protect ships and sailors around the world.

90 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

www.BizTucson.com

BizMILESTONE

Raytheon Products Made in Tucson

By Romi Carrell Wittman

AMRAAM® – the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile is the world’s most sophisticated, combat-proven air dominance weapon. It’s the only radar-guided, air-to-air missile cleared to fly on the F-35.

It’s been extensively and successfully tested, with more than 4,900 test shots and 13 airto-air combat victories.

The latest upgrade for AMRAAM is the “Form, Fit, Function Refresh,” or F3R, program. When combined with the just-released System Improvement Program 3 software, F3R delivers improved guidance, range and performance to the missile.

In addition, AMRAAM-ER is a new, groundlaunched extended range missile that will intercept targets at longer distances and higher altitudes. AMRAAM-ER gets its boost in range from a bigger rocket motor and optimized flight control algorithms.

AIM-9X® SIDEWINDER™ – the AIM-9X SIDEWINDER missile is a triple-threat missile that can be used for air-to-air engagements, surface-attack and surface-launch missions without modifications. A short-range missile, it is often paired with AMRAAM on the wings of allied fighter jets.

The advanced infrared-tracking, short-range missile is combat proven in several engagements around the world.

StormBreaker® – the StormBreaker smart weapon can hit moving land-based and maritime targets at ranges in excess of 45 miles and in some of the worst weather conditions. The winged munition autonomously detects and classifies moving targets in poor visibility situations caused by darkness, bad weather, smoke or dust kicked up by helicopters.

Now approved for use on the F-15E, StormBreaker is the U.S. Air Force’s first fielded, network-enabled weapon. At just over 200 pounds, it’s small, yet powerful enough to defeat tanks.

Tomahawk® Cruise Missile – the Tomahawk® cruise missile is a precision weapon that launches from ships and submarines and can strike targets precisely from 1,000 miles away, even in heavily defended airspace.

Raytheon Missiles & Defense and the U.S. Navy are recertifying and upgrading the missile that will extend its service life for 15 years. The Tomahawk Block V will upgrade its navigation and communication, incorporate an enhanced warhead, and add the ability to strike moving targets at sea.

U.S. and allied militaries have flight-tested the GPS-enabled Tomahawk 550 times and used it in combat more than 2,300 times.

Spring 2022

>>>

INFORMATION & PHOTOS COURTESY RAYTHEON MISSILES & DEFENSE

Raytheon Missiles & Defense is a leader in aerospace defense and technology – and much of that expertise and manufacturing capability originates directly from its Tucson headquarters.

BizTucson 91

Hypersonic Raytheon Invests in New Capabilities, Partners with UArizona

IMAGE: COURTESY RAYTHEON MISSILES & DEFENSE

By Romi Carrell Wittman Hypersonic technology, as it’s known, will revolutionize the defense industry and Raytheon Missiles & Defense is taking the lead.

But what exactly is hypersonic technology?

When Misty Holmes, Raytheon’s executive director of the hypersonic campaign, was asked to give a “‘hypersonic technology for dummies’ explanation,” she smiled. “That’s what I do all the time and enjoy most,” she said before explaining exactly what it is and how Raytheon is harnessing it.

Hypersonics are not really a thing. Hypersonic is an attribute…. a capability. What the U.S. is developing is a family of weapon systems that are air, surface and subsurface launched, to deliver a wide range of effects to the battlefield and allow defeat of targets that are threats to our country and our allies.

As the name implies, hypersonic means traveling at speeds greater than Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. To put that into perspective, an aircraft traveling at Mach 5 would cross the Atlantic in roughly two hours, more than twice as fast as the fastest passenger plane, the Concorde. That’s a speed of around 3,800 miles per hour.

With hypersonic weapons time to target, flying greater than Mach 5, our adversaries have less time to react. These weapons also have an unpredictable flight path because they can maneuver, which makes them difficult to track.

Hypersonic technology has existed in the United States for decades. The Apollo spacecraft Gemini and Mercury reentered earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic speeds back in the early 1960s. Every space shuttle has moved at hypersonic speeds.

However, operationalizing this technology in the U.S. defense industry is a relatively new 92 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

development. “The hypersonic threat from our adversaries is no longer science fiction. It is very real today and driving the need for accelerated capability,” Holmes said.

Under President Biden, the Department of Defense has increased funding for hypersonics research to $3.8 billion in FY22 to accelerate the development and testing of hypersonic weapons.

Holmes said it’s critical that Raytheon continue to support the USG to develop and manufacture this type of mission capability.

“Our adversaries are visibly investing in and fielding hypersonic capabilities, and we need to do the same,” she said. “Rather, we must be competitive in battlefield dominance to maintain a strong deterrence posture to help keep our citizens and allies safe.”

Raytheon is developing two types of hypersonic missiles: Boost glide and ‘air-breathing’ missiles.

Boost glide hypersonic missiles are launched outside the atmosphere then glide down to their intended target. Rocket motors propel the missile, then the glide vehicle separates from the rocket and glides at extremely high speeds to reach its target. Boost glide capability requires exotic materials to address the heat challenge and offers longer range, maneuverability and shorter response times due to their extreme speeds Air-breathing hypersonic missiles, on the other hand, achieve high speeds by a scramjet engine. The incredibly fast air flow through the engine propels the missile as opposed to the more complex rocket boost glide system.

And unlike the boost glide, air breathers fly within the atmosphere generating a little less heat which means they can leverage more conventional materials, which lessens the cost continued on page 94 >>>

www.BizTucson.com

BizMILESTONE

Missiles

www.BizTucson.com

Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 93

Gov. Doug Ducey toured wind tunnels on the UA campus on Dec. 2, along with UA President Robert C. Robbins. continued from page 92 to produce. Like boost glide systems, air breathers also maneuver and are difficult to persistently track.

The boost glide and air breather missiles are being developed primarily at the company’s Tucson facility, and remain in the demonstration phase.

“We’re focused on building prototypes and increased testing frequency. We expect to see programs of record established within the DoD services in the next year,” Holmes said.

Building and testing hypersonic missiles is no small feat. One of the key challenges we face is making sure the materials that make up the missile can withstand the extremely high temperatures generated by an object flying greater than Mach 5. The materials science piece cannot be understated.

Think of the heat shields necessary to protect the space shuttle upon reentry.

This has been a major roadblock in the development of commercial hypersonic aircraft.

Then, testing must take place in several phases. First, the units are tested in a small-scale simulated environment, like the University of Arizona’s College of Engineering wind tunnels, where Gov. Doug Ducey recently toured along with Raytheon Missiles & Defense President Wesley D. Kremer.

Wind tunnels blow air at high speeds past stationary objects to better understand how objects will move in actual flight. Other testing must take place in a real flight environment and it is difficult to schedule range time. There are just a few capable ranges in the world that 94 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

can accommodate hypersonic flight testing.

Thus, the road to manufacturing hypersonic missiles is a complex balance of material science, simulated flight testing and, finally, range testing to ensure the vehicle can fly the intended distance, maneuver as designed and withstand the extreme flying environment at hypersonic speeds. While Raytheon has competition in this segment primarily from Lockheed Mar-

“

The hypersonic

threat from our adversaries is no longer science fiction. It is very real today and driving the need for accelerated capability.

”

– Misty Holmes Executive Director Requirements & Capabilities Advanced Technologies Raytheon Missiles & Defense

tin, Northrop Grumman and Boeing, Holmes said Raytheon has an advantage with their decades of missile development and production experience, deep talent base, robust supply chain, and academic affiliations, like the one with UArizona.

“Our university has experience across the spectrum of hypersonics,” said UArizona College of Engineering Dean David Hahn. “At such high speed, we have good tools that allow us to simulate, and we also provide the capability with actual vehicles. We’ve figured out the materials that can withstand the heat. When something is moving that fast, huge challenges are presented.

Raytheon’s experience in digital engineering also provides an advantage.

“We have the ability to show customers what to expect ahead of time,” Holmes said. Digital engineering has the added benefits reduced cycle time through more automation and manufacturing technology which results in faster production times and lower costs.

Holmes said Raytheon will be a leader in this space. “We have a lot of experience, and people look to us as the leader in being able to manufacture missiles at rate and deliver them to the warfighter.”

“Being able to have not only hypersonics capabilities, but being able to defend against hypersonic threats, is something that is not only important today, but is growing in importance every single day,” Kremer said, during his tour of UArizona’s wind tunnels. “Unlike many areas of science, where we have decades of experience, this is an area that’s truly emerging.

Biz

www.BizTucson.com

PHOTO: COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

BizMILESTONE

BizENGINEERING

A Pipeline of Talent Raytheon Values Partnership with UArizona College of Engineering

By Valerie Vinyard After speaking to David Hahn, you’ll be convinced that everyone should become an engineer.

“Engineers are tackling all of the significant challenges in modern society,” said the Craig M. Berge dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Arizona. “And that is food and water, energy, healthcare and security. We do it all. Whatever you’re passionate about, we can lead you that to a career as an engineer.”

Hahn, who holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Louisiana State University, boasts more than two decades of experience in higher education and with national agencies and laboratories, and he is a champion of diversity in engineering.

96 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

The 58-year-old came to UArizona 2½ years ago after a 20-year career at the University of Florida, where he served as chair of mechanical and aerospace engineering. While he was there, the university built a 4,000-square-foot student design center, his department grew to the largest on campus in terms of student enrollment and the female students registered in mechanical and aerospace engineering increased to 20%.

Hahn appears to be creating an equally impressive footprint in Tucson. In just over two years at UArizona, he has seen an influx of applicants to the College of Engineering. continued on page 98 >>>

www.BizTucson.com

PHOTO BY BRENT G. MATHIS

David W. Hahn Craig M. Berge Dean College of Engineering University of Arizona

www.BizTucson.com

Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 97

BizENGINEERING continued from page 96 “To date, our applications are the highest that they’ve ever been,” said Hahn of the prospective students for Fall 2022. “We are leading the university in the year-over-year increase in number of applications.”

While that’s great news, Hahn and his team are working toward an even higher goal. He said there’s a multiyeareffort to actually double the number of students in the college. Hahn noted that the expansion of the College of Engineering has become a UArizona priority.

This five- to six-year effort will increase the number of students from 4,000 to 8,000. He said the expansion essentially will double the size of the college in enrollments, degrees produced and research enterprise.

“We have 16 engineering degree paths,” he said. “We have a great breadth of programs that meet anyone’s needs and interests.”

So, what’s the secret to his success?

“We are a very personable program that puts a lot of time in with our stu-

98 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

“

The University of Arizona is a gem – they’re a top-tier research institution and one of Raytheon’s key partners for decades.

”

Roy Donelson VP & COO Raytheon Middle East North Africa Group –

dents, so our students succeed inside and outside of the classroom,” said Hahn, noting that a starting salary in

engineering could reach six figures.

“An engineering degree from UA provides enormous opportunities to make the world a better place,” he said. “You get to have an exciting job and earn a great income. A great misconception is that engineers just sit there and do equations all day. Sure, we do math and use math as a tool, but you’re just as likely to be out in the world testing new technologies. We apply theoretical learning to solve real-world problems.”

UArizona is poised to offer an influx of quality engineering graduates to the area, which will mesh with the regional economic recovery plan, the Pivot Playbook. The playbook is a formal action plan driven by Sun Corridor Inc. to ensure that the community emerges from the pandemic able to seize on crucial opportunities. Those initiatives include providing a high-quality pool of talent, innovative workforce training and costeffective real estate offerings.

“The University of Arizona is a gem – they’re a top-tier research institution continued on page 100 >>>

www.BizTucson.com

www.BizTucson.com

Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 99

BizENGINEERING continued from page 98 and one of Raytheon’s key partners for decades,” said Roy Donelson, VP and COO of Raytheon Middle East North Africa Group.

“Working with the UA gives us a better perspective on the region and our nation,” Donelson said. “We’re able to learn and understand what students are thinking about. So many millennials are entering the workforce now and we’re working to increase those numbers overall, but also the number of women and other diversity groups in the workforce. Our partnership with UA is helping us do just that.”

Raytheon Missiles & Defense employs more than 30,000 employees globally, with 15,000 of those being engineers.

“Our partnership with UA has fed that talent need,” Donelson said.

“We continue to hire hundreds of UA graduates and just over the last couple of years that number has continued to grow.”

To help with its goals, the UArizona

100 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

has received considerable funding from the “new economy” initiative from the state legislature and the board of regents. Hahn said the College of Engineering has received about a third of the $36 million provided through the initiative.

“That initiative is all about expanding the STEM workforce and the Arizona economy, we are helping to fill that need,” he said.

Hahn noted that UArizona is not just a state institution – about a third of its students come from out of state.

“We’re promoting, advertising, and recruiting all over the United States,” he said. “We partner all over the state and all over the world. We have a summer engineering academy for highschoolers that includes hundreds of students. We also work with the community college system.”

Agreed Donelson: “We are proud to be in Southern Arizona and partner with University of Arizona, suppliers and other organizations to promote economic development in the state. Ultimately, UA helps us with the people

and innovation to provide the technology that defends our nation and allies.”

In addition to major companies, Hahn noted that there are hundreds of smaller engineering employers in the Tucson area. And in Arizona, there’s a great need for civil engineers as the states invests in infrastructure, and mining is the fifth largest industry in the state.

“We’re really trying to respond to the needs of the state,” he said. “There’s demand for all of our engineers.”

To help meet the area’s needs, Hahn said that UArizona offers a software engineering degree that just launched this year. He’s predicting 100 students will graduate with the new degree.

Of course, Hahn noted that the highest demand in the United States is for mechanical engineers, because they support so many different industries.

“You can work in a power plant, or work on just about anything you can see or touch,” he said.

I think as an engineer, you can work just about anywhere in the world that you like.”

Biz

www.BizTucson.com

www.BizTucson.com

Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 101

BizMILESTONE

By the Numbers 12,500

RMD employees in Arizona

1,035

total hires from colleges (2015 – 2019)

Mining Regional Talent Raytheon Invests Heavily in Workforce Development While Raytheon Missiles & Defense focuses on its primary task to develop the technologically advanced products and systems that protect our country, it finds itself in an ultra-competitive environment to attract the top talent needed for its mission.

Because of what it does as a business and the technology involved, it’s easy to think of Raytheon as a company comprised only of engineers who create, design and build the company’s products.

But when there are 12,500 employees in one location, the array of skills needed is massive.

For Raytheon, the search for talent starts in Tucson but obviously doesn’t end there, said Heather Bigley, director of talent acquisition for Raytheon Missiles & Defense.

“We’re constantly on the hunt for local talent because we know there is a 102 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

cost and investment in sourcing and relocating talent to Tucson,” Bigley said.

“We would prefer to be able to have a greater population of qualified talent locally.”

Talent acquisition at Raytheon is an operation that involves the highest levels of the company and a level of strategy and innovation that stretches around the globe.

Allen Couture, VP of operations and security, is focused on the company’s manufacturing operation to make sure Raytheon is producing for its customers. At the same time, he knows that to meet those expectations, Raytheon must have talent at all levels. While Raytheon competes with companies locally, nationally and even globally, Couture said he recognizes that the company can’t work in a silo expecting to attract the best.

“I think workforce development is key to the continued growth and the success of all Arizona businesses and I don’t think it’s unique to us,” Couture said. “I think a lot of businesses are going through the same challenges. For us, a skilled workforce is critical from advanced degrees in engineering, but so is our vocation training.

“It’s very necessary for us to continue to invest in those types of roles and education. Lately our job growth is increasingly focused on those with a college education or specialized technical certification. Quite frankly, we’re monitoring trends in the workforce and getting the talent pipeline filled because we do see the potential availability to decline as we get out through 2030.”

Raytheon actively partners with and supports numerous institutions, continued on page 104 >>> www.BizTucson.com

PHOTOS: COURTESY RAYTHEON MISSILES & DEFENSE

By Jay Gonzales

Profiles in Raytheon Leadership

By Jay Gonzales Raytheon Missiles & Defense has a talent acquisition infrastructure that encompasses all levels and all departments in the company. A look at three members of Raytheon management who are leading the company into the future.

Heather Bigley

Allen Couture

Bill Gundrey

Senior Director Talent Acquisition

VP Operations and Security

Executive Director Digital Transformation

Heather Bigley heads talent acquisition for the organization that has $16 billion in sales and 30,000 employees, 12,500 of those in Tucson. She is responsible for providing integrated talent acquisition strategies that meet the current and future hiring demands of the business.

Allen Couture’s responsibilities include overseeing the advanced manufacturing centers and other facilities for air and missile defense systems, precision weapons, radars, command-and-control systems and advanced defense technologies. He has more than 20 years of experience leading programs, development engineering and manufacturing facilities in commercial and defense industries.

Bill Gundrey directs a digital transformation organization where new technologies and therefore, the need for new skills are emerging on a regular basis. Fields such as cybersecurity, cloud computing, highperformance computing weren’t around not that long ago but are now key to Raytheon Missiles & Defense and manufacturing processes that revolve around massive amounts of data available.

A critical aspect of having a talent pipeline, Couture said, is making sure it is diverse.

“Building out the data environment and then using the environment is really transforming all disciplines, and they have to think about data and information differently as they’re doing their jobs,” Gundrey said. “The concept of creating, sharing, and working with data will be very different going forward. It’s a culture around data.”

While the skills needed at Raytheon are diverse, the STEM fields – science, technology, engineering and math – continue to require focus, not only at Raytheon, but nationally, to ensure there is a workforce that Raytheon can depend on. For Raytheon, strategies start as early as middle school to pique students’ interest in STEM. “We invest hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in many different statewide programs,” Bigley said, citing MathMovesU as one program that gets middle school and high school students interested in the math fields. “We also have ongoing mentoring and scholarships and partnerships with local community colleges and universities. It’s really all about trying to get that excitement in the students to help them to want to step into the STEM fields for a career.”

Such opportunities also reveal what a potential STEM career could mean for them in life.

“We’re really trying to create this community of not just coming and showing up to work,” she said. “You build friends. You can do things you love, and you can find similar people that have that interest and get engaged with them.”

www.BizTucson.com

“We know that’s a vital indicator of economic opportunity for individuals and Arizona as a whole,” Couture said. “Having a workforce that is diverse in their backgrounds, their experiences are all very important things for us to have in our workforce.”

Couture points out that while engineering and advanced technology are the backbone of Raytheon, it doesn’t take an engineering degree or even a college degree to get a job at Raytheon and advance to higher-skilled and higher-paying jobs.

“You can start from the ground floor,” he said. “I’m an example of that. I was a mechanic on the line when I started. I graduated high school, worked at a factory, then decided to try to get an education.

And then I just worked my way up through the ranks.”

“We’ve had employees in janitorial services go and work on their trades, work on their skills, and they are now operators building some of the most sophisticated products in the world for our customers.”

Gundrey said it’s been his experience that, as new technical and engineering skills become available in the workforce, the defense industry tends to take some time to tap into those skills. But more recently, potential employees with these skills are finding the defense sector more appealing simply because the work is more meaningful as we are privileged to provide capabilities to our servicemen and women.

“I’ve seen more interest now as we are building out and transforming the company digitally because it’s a more exciting environment to come and work,” Gundrey said. “I see a little more interest now because it’s just the noble work that we do.”

Biz Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 103

BizMILESTONE continued from page 102 including the University of Arizona, Pima Community College and the high schools. In January, it awarded a $100,000 grant to Pima Joint Technical Education District for a 4,000-squarefoot event center at the JTED’s new Innovative Learning Center @ The Bridges.

“It’s incredibly important to reach out and partner with the educational institutions to help grow the next generation of employees for our business and not just in engineering,” Couture said. “There are tons of different roles.

There’s an incredible employee base in Arizona in the vocational areas, in the technical trades, in manufacturing.”

At Pima JTED, Raytheon has become a trailblazer that is equipping a workforce with skills that don’t necessarily require a college degree but can also lead to one, said Kathy Prather, superintendent and CEO at Pima JTED. “I think the most important piece of this relationship is Raytheon’s understanding that career and technical education students are the future talent,”

104 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

“

I think the most important piece of this relationship is Raytheon’s understanding that career and technical education students are the future talent.

”

– Kathy Prather Superintendent & CEO Pima JTED

Prather said. “Raytheon has a very purposeful plan to work and support what’s happening in our classroom.”

In doing so, Prather said, other companies are coming along and supporting the technical education work JTED

does to provide a broader workforce for the community.

“I would say Raytheon has set the bar for leadership in inspiring other local companies to engage at many different levels,” Prather said. “They really have taken that leadership role and the other organizations are seeing that and I think it’s safe to say we have more engagement right now than we have ever seen before in our business and industry advisory committees.”

Joe Snell, president and CEO at Sun Corridor Inc., credits Raytheon’s talent acquisition emphasis with helping the region continue to produce the talent that helps not only the defense giant, but other companies here tapping into the pipeline.

“Talent drives all market decisions. It has since the early 80s and it will continue to drive them,” Snell said. “The reason Raytheon stayed here, put their missile headquarters here, primarily is they felt comfortable that they could attract talent.”

Bill Gundrey heads Raytheon’s digital transformation unit that develops continued on page 106 >>>

www.BizTucson.com

www.BizTucson.com

Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 105

BizMILESTONE continued from page 104 technology and systems to better the entire product development lifecycle.

They are constantly identifying needs for new skills in computing, technology and security, and always on the hunt inside and outside the company.

“Digital technology is foundational.

It’s our networking, our infrastructure, our business applications, our data, our processes, and even our culture − that complete information infrastructure,” Gundrey said. “Digital transformation is, really, how we leverage that to build our products and solutions for our customers faster than we ever have before.”

“There’s a war for talent now so, we’re putting a lot of investment in it,” he added. That investment is internal as well as external. Raytheon is putting significant effort into getting its existing workforce trained with new and advanced skills.

“We’re encouraging folks to go get the cyber degree, go get a certification,” Gundrey said. “Developing our internal talent in some of these areas is critical.

But we have to go recruit external tal-

106 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

“

The reason Raytheon stayed here, put their missile headquarters here, primarily is they felt comfortable that they could attract talent.

”

– Joe Snell President & CEO Sun Corridor Inc.

ent, too.”

Raytheon is mining talent through UArizona’s College of Engineering.

Pima Community College offers a respected aviation technology program and is currently expanding its aviation

tech center. Pima JTED, where Raytheon opened its namesake event center, offers courses in precision manufacturing, aviation technology, robotics and drone operation.

At Sunnyside High School, the closest high school to the company’s facility south of Tucson International Airport, Raytheon has developed a valuable partnership since 2017 in which the company hosts student workers who contribute across 11 different Raytheon departments. All students receive a Raytheon laptop to use at work, as well as a badge.

“We invest hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in many different statewide programs,” Bigley said. “It’s important to help our community build a pipeline to have access to some higher paying jobs.

“Tucson is a great place for the company because there’s a lot of innovation happening locally. There are a lot of partnerships that take place through industry and academia, and I think that has to continue.”

Biz

www.BizTucson.com

www.BizTucson.com

Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 107

By the Numbers

Alex Beresford

$1M

Systems Engineer

in charitable donations

60,000+

employee volunteer hours

Alonso Garcia Senior Mechanical Engineer

Shalane B. Simmons 108 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

Manager Corporate Social Responsibility

BizMILESTONE

A Kingpin of Community Raytheon’s Culture Prioritizes Philanthropy, Outreach

PHOTOS COURTESY RAYTHEON MISSILES & DEFENSE

By Jay Gonzales While Raytheon Missiles & Defense has a massive manufacturing operation south of Tucson International Airport, its presence is felt everywhere in the community.

Alex Beresford, a Raytheon systems engineer, is one of the company’s thousands of employees who dedicates her free time – plus the time Raytheon willingly allows each employee to donate during work hours--to the community.

“Raytheon is such a large part of the Tucson community. With our number of employees and the size of the business, we like to leverage that to give back to the place that we live,” Beresford said. “We’re in Central Tucson.

We’re in Downtown Tucson. We’re in South Tucson. To me, that’s what our community outreach is all about, seeing that impact that we’re having in the place that we’re actually working.”

With the size and high profile Raytheon has in the region, there’s an expectation that community support and outreach come with the territory. Raytheon gladly accepts the responsibility and – as one might expect – has an infrastructure within the organization to allow employees like Beresford and Senior Mechanical Engineer Alonso Garcia to get out into the community to support causes they love.

“The company has a strategy around outreach and there is a business purpose behind it,” said Shalane Simmons, manager of corporate and social responsibility at Raytheon Missiles & Defense. “We focus mostly on STEM education and military and veteran support, but the company is also flexible and encourages its employees to go volunteer at the Humane Society, local www.BizTucson.com

shelters – really whatever they’re passionate about.”

“Twenty years ago, I don’t know if managers at many large companies would have said, ‘I want my employee to leave at 2:00 in the afternoon to go volunteer.’ It’s a shift of culture not just in the industry, but in society. I think Raytheon does a really good job of supporting that.”

Beresford and Garcia both are involved in working to increase student interest in the STEM fields – science, technology, engineering and math, efforts that might ultimately benefit Raytheon by adding to the talent pool. For them, it’s more about giving back because of their experiences pondering their own futures and careers.

Garcia, whose parents were factory workers who immigrated from Mexico, has the added inspiration from personal experience to zero in on the underrepresented populations in STEM. His father became a machinist in Tucson, as they settled where Garcia would eventually attend Flowing Wells High School.

“The primary reason I’m giving back to this day and will continue to give back is because of the debt that I think that I owe − to pay it forward − for the multitude of mentors and programs that helped me out,” Garcia said. “It starts with a dream that someone instills in you.”

Garcia’s dream and his mentors directed him to Cornell University, where he got the engineering degree that eventually led him to Raytheon. The MESA outreach program (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement) was there for Garcia when he was in

high school, and he now gives his time to the organization.

“It was there for me as a student getting that awareness as to what an engineer actually does,” Garcia said. “It was providing that knowledge and that awareness to demystify the process, demystify college, demystify engineering, and then show a path.”

The community outreach also comes from the highest levels at Raytheon. Executives give their time and expertise to numerous boards and committees that impact economic development, social issues and education.

Wesley D. Kremer, president of Raytheon Missiles and Defense, sits on the Chairman’s Circle of Sun Corridor Inc., the region’s economic development arm. Raytheon employees are increasingly involved at Pima Joint Technical Education District as teachers for students aiming to learn a trade they could use at Raytheon, said Pima JTED Superintendent and CEO Kathy Prather.

Beresford volunteers at the Humane Society because of her love for animals.

“The people that I’m connecting with and the work that I’m doing in the community just makes me value being here in Tucson and being at this company,” Beresford said. “I feel that if I didn’t know anybody coming to the company, I can very easily find people with common interests, and we can then go out together and volunteer or pull together a group to make a difference.”

“All of that makes what I do outside of work so much fun. I’m not sitting at home. I know that I’m doing something that I find important.”

Biz

Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 109

110 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

www.BizTucson.com

www.BizTucson.com

Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 111

“

Raytheon is in a very unique place here in the region because of how heavy the region is in defense.

”

– Ted Maxwell President & CEO Southern Arizona Leadership Council

Clockwise from top left – Raytheon Missile & Defense Tucson Campus; Hughes Aircraft groundbreaking; Raytheon Missiles & Defense solar panel grid; South Gate ribbon ceremony – USAF Director Jackie Janning-Lask (AFLCMC/EN-EZ) and Raytheon Missile & Defense President Wesley D. Kremer join the region’s public and private sector leaders.

112 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

www.BizTucson.com

BizMILESTONE

Mutual Respect Mutual Benefit

Raytheon Eyes Lucrative Future in Southern Arizona

PHOTOS COURTESY RAYTHEON MISSILES & DEFENSE

By Jay Gonzales It’s hard to imagine when Raytheon began in Tucson, as Hughes Aircraft Company, 70 years ago that it would grow to 12,500 employees working on site and terms such as “hypersonics” and “digital transformation” would define the work it does today.

As Raytheon Missiles & Defense envisions its future in Southern Arizona, its core mission to support the U.S. Department of Defense with the most advanced technology and systems that protect the nation remains intact as it increasingly partners with a community that embraces its work.

“We have a culture, a lifeblood of innovation and technology development which I believe fuels our passion,” said Bryan Rosselli, VP of business transformation and execution at Raytheon Missiles & Defense. “It really attracts talented people to come support the overarching mission that we have to support our war fighters, but also attracts people because of the exciting technology work we do.”

After 70 years of Raytheon building a foundation here, community leaders recognize that a strong partnership on all sides will keep Raytheon competitively at the top of the list of U.S. defense contractors while also fueling Tucson’s economic engine in the future.

“I have a mantra that I’ve had since I first day I arrived and it’s ‘What have we done for Raytheon today?’ ” said Joe Snell, president and CEO of Sun Corridor Inc., the region’s economic development arm. “We need to adopt that from our elected officials to all of our businesses because they are the largest private employer in Southern Arizona − definitely the granddaddy of them all in the Tucson metro area − and everything good or bad derives from their presence here.”

“Tucson is a great place for our company because there’s so much innovawww.BizTucson.com

tion going on here,” said Allen Couture, VP of operations and security at Raytheon Missiles & Defense. “And it’s happening through partnerships that we have with both industry and in academia.”

One notable impact: The more than 180 local suppliers that support Raytheon’s operation from almost 450 statewide.

“Those partners play a crucial role in our success,” Couture said. “Quite frankly, we’re working to help them build their businesses and their connections because, in my view, this is a partnership. This is a mutual opportunity for everyone, not just Raytheon Missiles & Defense, but the suppliers that we work with and the education institutions that we work with as well.”

As Raytheon develops products to meet its customers’ future demands, it looks to condense the time that new products take to come to fruition and to increase manufacturing efficiency, Rosselli said. The engineers developing technologies must not only think about the end product, but the processes necessary to produce it and the skills needed.

“We talk about the digital thread or digital transformation, which essentially is looking at how you condense the overall cycle time by being able to digitally tie together how you design, develop, produce, test, deploy and sustain systems,” Rosselli said. “Instead of doing it in silos, in different places, the digital thread helps create an ecosystem where, as you’re designing something, you’re also looking at how do I design it into our automated factories?”

As long as Raytheon Missiles & Defense can continue to build on its innovation, its technologies and its strategies with the support of the Tucson community, the government and economic development infrastructure and the talent

pool, Rosselli said he doesn’t see why it wouldn’t remain the huge economic player it is to Tucson.

A study in 2020, as Raytheon announced an expansion in Tucson to add 2,000 employees, indicated that the corporation had a $2.6 billion impact on the statewide economy.

“Raytheon Missiles & Defense is wedded to Tucson, and vice versa,” Rosselli said. “Like any good marriage, there’s just a lot of collaboration and partnership and rolling up our sleeves to get things done.”

With the defense industry sector such a key component of the region’s overall economic development structure, Raytheon couldn’t sit in a more appropriate place geographically and economically, said Ted Maxwell, president and CEO of Southern Arizona Leadership Council. Maxwell is a retired major general in the U.S. Air Force and was commander of the 162nd Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard.

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, with a $3 billion impact on the Tucson economy, is situated in the middle of the Tucson valley. Morris Air National Guard, where the 162nd Wing is based, is a neighbor of Tucson International Airport. Fort Huachuca, less than 90 minutes southeast of Tucson, has more than 26,000 employees and provides a $2.4 billion economic impact.

“Raytheon is in a very unique place here in the region because of how heavy the region is in defense,” Maxwell said.

“The presence of the military from the National Guard located in the same airfield complex as Raytheon, and with Davis-Monthan and Fort Huachuca, the Raytheon mission and what it does here fits very well within the make-up of our community.”

Biz Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 113

BizMILESTONE

114 BizTucson

<<<

Spring 2022

www.BizTucson.com

www.BizTucson.com

Spring 2022

>>>

BizTucson 115