Raytheon, a business of RTX (NYSE: RTX), is investing $100 million to expand its Portsmouth, Rhode Island facility, targeting higher production capacity for missile defense systems.
The expansion will accelerate testing for the U.S. Army’s Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor, widely known as LTAMDS, a next-generation radar system built to detect and track advanced threats.
The project is expected to create 150 high-tech jobs in Rhode Island, adding skilled employment to a state where RTX has maintained operations for more than six decades.
The Portsmouth facility will also increase output of components used in the Patriot Advanced Capability-2 Guidance Enhanced Missile-Tactical, known as GEM-T, a critical element of the broader Patriot air defense system.
GEM-T missiles are designed to engage aircraft, cruise missiles, and tactical ballistic missiles, making them central to layered air defense architectures used by U.S. and allied forces.
Raytheon is already under contract to supply LTAMDS radars to both the U.S. Army and Poland, connecting the program directly to American modernization priorities and growing allied defense demand.
The LTAMDS radar recently completed its ninth flight test, during which multiple radar arrays supported the tracking and interception of a target simulating an airborne threat.
The Rhode Island announcement follows a separate $53 million expansion launched last year at Raytheon’s radar production facility in Andover, Massachusetts, reflecting a sustained push to grow domestic defense manufacturing capacity.
RTX currently employs more than 850 people in Rhode Island, and the Portsmouth site supports a range of programs including radar systems, combat systems, and undersea technologies.
For investors, the expansion signals that demand for air and missile defense capabilities continues to rise as security concerns intensify across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
The pace of investment from RTX underscores how defense contractors are responding to a global threat environment that increasingly features hypersonic weapons and sophisticated aerial systems.
With allied nations accelerating their own defense procurement, Raytheon’s dual exposure to U.S. Army contracts and international customers like Poland positions the company to capture demand from multiple directions simultaneously.
