Joining Raytheon officials for the announcement and ceremony were Sen. Trent Lott and Rep. Charles Pickering, R-Miss., and Gray Swoope, deputy director and chief operating officer of the Mississippi Development Authority. Lott praised Raytheon as a "world-class company, with world-class employees" and applauded the company's commitment to Mississippi.

"I'm hopeful that Raytheon will continue to look for opportunities to grow new lines of business in Mississippi in support of our 21st century military," he said.

With the expansion, Raytheon is increasing its Forest employee base by 18 percent, bringing 110 new jobs to the area.

"The decision to expand in Forest is a reflection of the hard work and high-quality performance of our Mississippi employees," said Taylor W. Lawrence, Raytheon's vice president for Engineering, Technology and Mission Assurance. "At this facility we turn out some of the finest products in the defense industry, products that not only support our national security interests, but that help protect our men and women in uniform daily as well."

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