Meridian picked for T-100 assembly

MERIDIAN, Miss. – Raytheon said Monday that the final assembly facility for the T-100 training system will be in Mississippi if the company wins the Air Force’s T-X competition. The trainer, a modified Aermacchi M-346, is powered by two Honeywell F124 engines. The 130-acre site near the Meridian airport will employ about 450 workers. Raytheon has manufactured products in Mississippi for more than three decades. The company makes Active Electronically Scanned Array radars at its facility in the city of Forest. Leonardo-Finmeccanica, CAE USA and Honeywell Aerospace have partnered with Raytheon to offer the T-100. At least 70 percent of the T-100 training system, including ground-based systems, will be built in the United States while structural assembly will be in Italy. Also competing for the contract are Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman. (Sources: Multiple, including Raytheon, Defense News, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Meridian Star, 10/24/16) Meridian is east of Jackson, about 140 miles from Gulfport, Miss.