Northrop Grumman delivered the USS Ronald Reagan to the Navy in 2003, the nation’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier whose production has helped keep Raytheon’s San Diego employees busy. Raytheon’s work force here, part of the company’s Integrated Defense System, developed the software, hardware and engineering techniques for the San Diego-based carrier’s combat system as well as similar work for other Navy ships. “Our employees are aboard that ship all the time, getting it ready for its mission,” says Dave Gray, director of Raytheon’s Expeditionary Warfare Center. The company’s local presence is growing as defense dollars multiply. Five years ago, it employed 200 workers. Today it has 600 employees, 30 or 40 active defense contracts and annual revenue of about $240 million. “We anticipate a stable and growing work force for at least the next five years,” says Gray, who’s been with the company 21 years.