WBUR:
Waltham-based Raytheon is the largest producer of guided missiles in the world. And its plant in Andover, home to Integrated Defense Systems, is Raytheon’s largest facility anywhere in the world.
It’s so vast, there are even street signs marking long corridors. To keep traffic flowing, the 11,500 employees work in three staggered shifts. Leading a tour of the plant is Ken Arruda, director of operations. “That’s a mock-up of a Patriot GEM-T missile,” Arruda says. “I can say that?”
Arruda periodically checks with two security agents who follow closely in tow. The government wants U.S. missiles, not loose lips, to sink ships. GEM-T is the latest model of the three-decade-old Patriot missile. The ground-to-air, mobile system is made in Andover.
