Invited guests arrived under a light rain as Raytheon Company “inaugurated” a site Monday at Meridian Regional Airport, but the forecast was for sunny economic days ahead.

Raytheon proposes to build a training jet for the U.S. Air Force in Meridian.

One of the highlights of the presentation was a rendering by LPK Architects of Meridian of what a proposed Raytheon manufacturing facility at Meridian Regional Airport might look like.

Rick Yuse, vice president of Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, told invited guests it was a great day for manufacturing in East Mississippi and the Mississippi-Raytheon partnership has made the world a safer place for more than 30 years.

The ceremony included representatives from Raytheon, local, state and federal elected officials.

The guest list included Yuse, president of Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems; Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker and U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper.

Raytheon announced in October its proposal to build the T-100 Integrated Air Training System, a proposed training jet for the U.S. Air Force, in Meridian. The announcement brought promise for the potential of 450, high-paying jobs.

Raytheon’s T-100 will use multi-dimensional, digital scenarios to be the “safest, lowest-risk training solution,” Yuse said.

Government representatives were equally enthusiastic about Raytheon’s proposed plan.

“You (Raytheon) could have gone anywhere – and you’ve chosen wisely,” Harper said.

Raytheon anticipates competition from some of the defense industry’s heavyweights, including Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. The T-100 is one of four generations of jet trainers in the Air Force’s T-X Program. The company anticipates approximately 350 aircraft to be built over 20 years.

“We have the right company, the right state and the right workforce,” Wicker said, adding he believes Raytheon has the best bid.

The ceremony was held in Key Brothers Hangar. Invited guests were advised to arrive by 9:30 a.m. because of an anticipated large crowd. 

Three speakers mentioned the Key brothers, whose record flight saved the Meridian Regional Airport almost 70 years ago.

“While we’re setting records, we’re making sure we have the fuel to stay in the air,” Bryant said, referencing Key brothers flight.

As an attempt to attract attention for the struggling Meridian Municipal Airport in the 1930s, Fred and Al Key decided to plan a record-shattering endurance flight over the city of Meridian. Over the next few years, the brothers worked to innovate new ideas in mid-air refueling in order to fulfill their dream of breaking the 553 hour world endurance record held by the Hunter brothers of Chicago, according to the airport’s website.

On June 4, 1935, Fred and Al Key took off in the Ole Miss in front of 100 supporters to begin their task. One June 1, 1935, nearly a month later, the Ole Miss landed at Meridian Regional Airport to a crowd of 30,000 cheering people. Fred and Al Key had accomplished their goal of an amazing non-stop endurance flight that lasted over 27 non-stop days and nights – that’s 653 hours and 34 minutes, according to the airport website.

“We never imagined that 71 years later we’d be gathered on this same field to say, ‘history will be made again!’,” Bryant said.

Guests started arriving around 9 a.m. and firefighters and others set up cones and barriers to direct traffic. The event began a little after 10 a.m.

The ceremony ended around an hour later as the governor became one of the first guests to try out the high-tech, multi-dimensional T-100 simulator in a trailer parked outside.

The 450 jobs promised, which don’t include the construction workers who would be needed to build the facility, would have an average pay of $80,000.

The next steps include the Department of Defense’s request for proposals, bids by the contractors, review of the bids, a contract award and potential appeals. The process could take a year to complete.

Whitney Downard and Randall Hammons contributed to this report.

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