Raytheon

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) is a major United States military contractor based in Waltham, Massachusetts. The company has 80,000 employees worldwide, and annual revenues of approximately US $20 million. More than 90 percent of Raytheon's revenues are obtained from defense contracts, and as of 2005 it is the fifth largest military contractor in the world. William H. Swanson is the Chairman and CEO. Richard Armitage, former United States Deputy Secretary of State, is linked to the company by consultancy work.

Two former college roommates, Laurence K. Marshall and Vannevar Bush, along with scientist Charles G. Smith, founded the American Appliance Company in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1922. The company's first product was a gaseous rectifier, called the Raytheon ("light of the gods") and used for radio-receiver power supplies that plugged into the power grid in place of large batteries. The company changed its name to Raytheon in 1925.

In World War II Raytheon manufactured magnetron tubes for use in radar sets, and then complete radar systems. (In 1945 Raytheon's Percy Spencer invented the microwave oven by discovering that the magnetron could also cook food.) In 1948 Raytheon began to manufacture guided missiles. During the post-war years Raytheon also made radio and television transmitters and related equipment for the commercial market in the U.S., and got into the educational publishing business with the acquisition of D.C. Heath.

In the mid-1990's, Raytheon purchased the defense businesses of E-Systems and Texas Instruments. In 1997 Raytheon also acquired the defense business of Hughes Electronics from General Motors, which included the former General Dynamics missile business previously added to Hughes by GM. These acquisitions/mergers added many important military products to Raytheon's portfolio.

Businesses

Raytheon is currently composed of seven major businesses:

• Integrated Defense Systems - based in Tewksbury, Massachusetts; Dan Smith, President
• Intelligence and Information Systems - based in Garland, Texas; Mike Keebaugh, President
• Missile Systems - based in Tucson, Arizona; Louise Francesconi, President
• Network Centric Systems - based in McKinney, Texas; Colin Schottlaender, President
• Raytheon Aircraft Company - based in Wichita, Kansas; James E. Schuster, Chairman
• Raytheon Technical Services Company LLC - based in Reston, Virginia; Bryan Even, President
• Space and Airborne Systems - based in El Segundo, California; Jon Jones, President
  

In addition to its US domestic facilities, Raytheon currently has offices in countries worldwide, including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Norway, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.

Contemporary products
 
Missiles still form a large part of Raytheon's business as of 2004, including:

• AGM-65 Maverick
• AGM-88 HARM
• AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missile
• AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon
• AIM-9 Sidewinder
• AIM-120 AMRAAM
• BGM-109 Tomahawk
• MIM-104 Patriot

Additionally, Raytheon is a leading developer and manufacturer of radars (including AESAs), electro-optical sensors, and other advanced electronics systems for airborne, naval and ground based military applications. Examples include:

• APG-63/APG-70 radars for the F-15 Eagle
• APG-65/APG-73/APG-79 radars for the F/A-18 Hornet
• APQ-181 radar for the B-2 Spirit
• ALR-67 and ALR-69A radar warning receivers
• ALE-50 towed decoy ECM system
• ASQ-228 ATFLIR (Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infrared) pod
• Integrated Sensor Suite (ISS) for the RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV
• TPQ-36/TPQ-37 Firefinder and MPQ-64 Sentinel mobile battlefield radars
• Large fixed-site radars such as PAVE PAWS, BMEWS, and the National Missile Defense X-Band Radar (XBR)

Raytheon, oftentimes in conjunction with Boeing, Lockheed Martin or Northrop Grumman, is also heavily involved in the satellite sensor business. Much of its Space and Airborne Systems division in El Segundo, CA is devoted to this, a business it inherited from Hughes. Examples of programs include:

The Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS), being developed for Ballistic Missile Defense. Raytheon is building the sensor payload. Additionally, the El Segundo site is the company center of excellence for the development and production of laser products.

In the framework of Ground-Based Missile Defense, Raytheon develops a Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) which includes a booster missile and a kinetic Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV). The company also makes several software radio and digital communication systems for military applications such as Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC), is participating in Navy-Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI), ECHELON and the Joint Tactical Terminal (JTT) programs.

Raytheon also manufactures semiconductors for the electronics industry. In the late 20th century it produced a wide range of integrated circuits and other components, but as of 2003 its semiconductor business specializes in gallium arsenide (GaAs) components for radio communications. It is also making efforts to develop gallium nitride (GaN) components for next-generation radars and radios.

Another principal commercial product line is corporate jet aircraft, which are sold under the Beechcraft and Hawker brand names. Raytheon currently manufactures just one military aircraft, the T-6 Texan II.

In the 1990s Raytheon tried to build a Personal rapid transit system called PRT2000 but didn't win any contracts. The system sits idle at their Marlboro, MA facility.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Uses material from the article Raytheon .