On April 14, a group gathered in the parking lot of the R.I. National Guard’s Command Readiness Center in Cranston to witness a demonstration of Raytheon Co.’s new mobile nuclear-radiation-detection system – a large SUV with black-tinted windows that was filled with technology designed to sniff out dirty bombs.

“I’m glad to see that this is here and ready to be deployed,” said U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin, part of a congressional delegation that, along with Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, has focused for several years on building the state’s defense industry.

The effort is paying off. Evidence that Rhode Island’s defense and marine-technology sector is experiencing its most robust growth in decades was displayed several times in just the past few weeks.

Four days before Raytheon’s press conference, the Middletown-based defense contractor Systems Engineering Associates Corp. (SEA CORP) announced it had won a $129 million contract to support the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) at Naval Station Newport – by far the company’s largest contract ever. (READ MORE)

One day earlier, Advanced Solutions for Tomorrow Inc. – another defense contractor with offices in Middletown – announced its own $49 million contract to work closely with NUWC. (READ MORE)

On April 15, Kelly Space & Technology Inc., a California-based firm, announced plans to open a plant in Rhode Island that would employ about 50 workers to manufacture armored boats. (READ MORE)

That announcement came amid a five-day conference for computer modeling and simulation experts held last week in Providence that was attended mostly by specialists from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Defense and private contractors. (READ MORE)

Previously, on April 9, the R.I. Economic Development Corporation announced Rhode Island’s participation in the Defense Technology Initiative (DTI), a new six-state network that will work to grow New England’s defense-technology cluster.

Economic development officials are relying heavily on the success of Rhode Island’s defense and marine-technology sector as the state’s economy sinks more deeply toward recession.

“Defense is one of the few things really keeping us going right now, which is kind of nice,” said Leonard Lardaro, an economist at URI, who reported last week that the Current Conditions Index, his widely followed monthly gauge of the state’s economy, in February tied its lowest measure since 1991. (READ MORE)

To a great extent, the expansion of Rhode Island’s defense industry is the result of the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission’s (BRAC) 2005 decision to grow Naval Station Newport, said John Riendeau, the EDC’s defense specialist.

Few, if any, military bases in the country will grow as much as Newport in the coming years as a result of BRAC. In fact, the strategic realignment of military bases resulted in the closing and reduction of military bases in almost every other state.

In Newport, however, about $100 million in military construction projects are planned in coming years, and up to 600 new personnel are expected. (READ MORE)

At the same time, BRAC is also responsible for millions of dollars being spent to expand the R.I. National Guard’s operations at Quonset Air Base in North Kingstown and the U.S. Coast Guard’s regional engineering headquarters in Warwick, Riendeau said.

“Some states were losers in the BRAC process, which was unfortunate, but that’s life. We’re on the positive side of that,” he said.

As a result, a handful of defense-related technology companies seeking to do business with the military are coming to Rhode Island. Kelly Space & Technology is the most recent of at least five out-of-state firms that have opened offices near the Navy base in recent years, including AEgis Technologies Group, Alaska Native Technologies LLC, Paramount Solutions Inc. and Adaptive Methods Inc.

At the same time, several smaller defense contractors that have been headquartered in Rhode Island for many years have been experiencing rapid growth. For instance, The $129 million contract that SEA CORP recently announced was the company’s first major win since it graduated from small-business status last year and began competing directly with multinational defense contractors to do business with the U.S. military. Other long-time Rhode Island defense-technology firms that are growing rapidly include Purvis Systems Inc. and Rite-Solutions Inc., both headquartered in Middletown, Riendeau said.

Global defense contractors are also maintaining or expanding their presence in Rhode Island. Speaking at the April 15 press conference to showcase Raytheon’s new mobile nuclear radiation detection system, Mary D. Petryszyn, vice president of civil security and response programs for Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS), said the Waltham, Mass.-based company is moving the division she oversees to Portsmouth from Tewksbury, Mass.

And submarine manufacturer Electric Boat – a division of Groton, Conn.-based defense contractor General Dynamics – is currently in the process of hiring 400 engineers and designers for upcoming projects. The most significant hiring for the contractor since 2001 comes as a result of funding for an aircraft-carrier project that was extended.

EB had prepared to ramp down its manufacturing at Quonset Point, but now expects to maintain a work force of at least 2,000 in Rhode Island for the foreseeable future.

Expansion of the defense and marine technology sector is also extending onto the campus of the University of Rhode Island, which last April won a Navy contract to create its Center of Excellence in Undersea Technology – a collaboration of NUWC and the university to develop new marine and defense technologies with both military and civilian potential. (READ MORE)

Research currently being conducted at the center includes work to create an underwater perimeter detection system; a project aimed at building next-generation aircraft engines for the Air Force; and a program on bomb detection and response that has received millions of dollars in funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

“Defense and marine technology is one of our strongest sectors,” said Saul Kaplan, executive director of the EDC. “We think that we have a good hand to play that we can build on, so we’re moving forward aggressively to continue our progress.” •