How has Raytheon's missiles business changed over the years that you have been running it? There have been many significant changes largely driven by three factors: The evolving range of threats that governments have been asking us to help them address, advancements in our technological capabilities to defeat those threats, and the steadily growing interest in unique solutions that only Raytheon offers. A good example of all three trends is Standard Missile-6, which we originally developed to provide extended range protection for the U.S. Navy. Threats evolved, however, leading us to partner with the Navy to develop and produce a multi-mission weapon system. In addition to its original capability of defending the ship, SM-6 has now been successfully proven against ballistic missile targets in their final few seconds of flight, and as an offensive weapon to support the Navy's goal of spreading more firepower throughout the fleet. The technology story of SM-6 is even more interesting when you consider how we are producing the missile in a state-of-the-art, automated factory capable of higher capacity. The creation of a multiple mission capability, and the ability to innovate not only in terms of the product itself but also in how we produce it, is now attracting the attention of other navies which bodes well for the future of the SM-6 franchise.
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