Futuristic Raytheon Alabama factory makes missiles with robots

HUNTSVILLE – In the futuristic Raytheon Alabama factory, robotic vehicles glide silently across gleaming plant floors, transporting nose cones and other missile parts to the precise spots where they are needed for assembly.

The $75 million Raytheon Redstone Missile Integration Facility in Huntsville, however, is not simply a marvel of technological design. The 70,000-square-foot facility — one of the newest stars in Alabama’s aerospace constellation — produces weapons that are considered key components of the U.S. missile defense plan.

Governor Robert Bentley met with top Raytheon executives at the Paris Air Show this morning to discuss potential opportunities to expand the global company’s Alabama presence and to highlight the state’s top-rated worker training programs through AIDT and the Alabama Community College System.

In late May, the Huntsville factory delivered its first Standard Missile-3, a defensive weapon used to destroy short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles, according to Raytheon. It also produces the larger Standard Missile-6, a ship-defense interceptor used by the U.S. and Japanese Navies to defend against aircraft, drones and cruise missiles.

The Alabama plant’s design sets it apart. Raytheon said it started the facility from scratch, using the most advanced robotics and computer-controlled tools. Designers utilized a virtually reality chamber, called the Cave Automatic Environment, at Raytheon’s Missile Systems business in Arizona to test all aspects of the plant before construction began. It opened in November 2012.

“It’s not exactly ‘2001: A Space Odyssey,’ but it’s mighty, mighty high tech throughout,” says Mike Ward, the vice president of governmental affairs for the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County who has toured the plant.

A key feature of the plant’s operation is the fleet of laser-guided transport vehicles that move the missiles around the factory, removing the need for workers to lift and move the weapons around the factory. The trollies run on powerful lithium ion batteries and have their own internal positioning systems, as well as a built-in safety system that halts the vehicle if a person approaches.

The transporters can carry missile components weighing up to five tons and position the missiles within 1/10,000th of an inch. Significantly, the vehicles have eliminated all 16 of the so-called “critical lifts” involved in missile assembly, reducing the chances for an accident. The factory’s machinery also has the flexibility to handle future missile designs, Raytheon says.