SMT Prospects and Perspectives: AI Opportunities, Challenges, and Possibilities, Part 1
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Global Sourcing Spotlight: Don’t Be Afraid of Global SourcingBoeing Expanding Capacity for Advanced Patriot Missile Seeker Production
November 16, 2023 | BoeingEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Boeing has broken ground on a 35,000-square-foot expansion of its Huntsville factory that produces the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) seeker. The expansion will enable Boeing to increase annual PAC-3 seeker production by more than 30% to meet increasing air and missile defense needs worldwide.
The Boeing-built seeker provides guidance data to the PAC-3 interceptor used by the Patriot surface-to-air defense system, enabling it to identify, track and intercept advanced air and missile threats. The company recently delivered the 5,000th PAC-3 seeker.
“The PAC-3 seeker is a critical air and missile defense capability, and this site expansion will allow us to significantly ramp up production to support the U.S. military, allies and international partners who rely on it,” said Debbie Barnett, vice president of Strategic Missile & Defense Systems and Boeing Huntsville site leader. “Our proven seeker enables the life-saving precision accuracy of the Patriot system. I can’t overstate the importance of our team’s work in Huntsville and the mission we support.”
Since 2010, Boeing has invested more than $100 million to improve its Huntsville facilities in support of the PAC-3 program. Boeing has produced and sustained PAC-3 seekers as a subcontractor to Lockheed Martin for more than 20 years. Since 2021, Boeing has been awarded more than $2 billion in contracts for seeker production, as well as to develop a next-generation seeker that is digitally-engineered to ensure effectiveness against evolving threats.
The expanded facility is expected to be operational in early 2027. Earlier this year, Boeing opened a 9,000-square-foot expansion of the Huntsville Electronics Center of Excellence — a state-of-the-art facility that produces essential hardware for PAC-3 seekers and other Boeing systems.
Additionally, the company is investing in the state’s higher education initiatives, recently awarding $415,000 in grants for scholarships, maintaining technology labs and supporting workforce development programs at seven higher education institutions in Alabama. Schools receiving grants include Alabama A&M University, Auburn University, Calhoun Community College, J.F. Drake State Technical College, Tuskegee University, the University of Alabama and the University of Alabama in Huntsville
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