Raytheon Technologies Corporation is a United States military-industrial complex defense contractor, one of the largest in the world. As with many defense contractors, it is headquartered in the Washington DC suburbs, specifically Arlington, Virginia.
The company was formed in 2020 by the merger of Raytheon Corporation and United Technologies (prior to the merger, United spun-off its non-aerospace holdings into separate publicly-traded firms). It operates under four segments:
- Rockwell Collins (previously part of United)
- Pratt & Whitney (previously part of United); this segment is one of three companies which manufacture the majority of airplane engines
- Raytheon Intelligence & Space
- Raytheon Missiles & Defense
Controversies
Partnership with LGBTQ+ Community
Raytheon is a partner with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
Iraq war
- See also: Iraq war
In 2003, the widow of a Navy pilot sued Raytheon in the wrongful death of her husband by so-called "friendly fire". On April 2, a U.S. F/A-18 fighter aircraft was shot down by a U.S. Patriot missile west of Karbala, Iraq, killing U.S. Navy pilot Lieutenant Nathan Dennis White of VFA-195, Carrier Air Wing Five.[1]
Afghan war
- See also: Afghan war
The Intercept‘s Jon Schwarz examined returns on stocks of the five biggest defense contractors: Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics. Schwarz found that a $10,000 investment in stock evenly split across those five companies on the day in 2001 that then-President George W. Bush signed the authorization preceding the US invasion would be worth $97,295 this week, not adjusted for inflation, taxes, or fees. According to The Intercept:
| "This is a far greater return than was available in the overall stock market over the same period. $10,000 invested in an S&P 500 index fund on September 18, 2001, would now be worth $61,613. That is, defense stocks outperformed the stock market overall by 58% during the Afghanistan War."[2] |
NATO war in Ukraine
- See also: NATO war in Ukraine
The Atlantic Council was pushing to ramp up the proxy war between Russian speaking Ukrainians and Ukrainian nationalist. In 2015 the Atlantic Council helped prepare a proposal for arming the Ukrainian military with offensive weaponry like Javelin anti-tank missiles. The Atlantic Council has been funded by the two manufacturers of the Javelin missile system, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. This created an appearance of a conflict of interest. The think tank in fact presented its Distinguished Business Leadership Award to Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson that same year.
Lloyd Austin was appointed defense minister of the Biden junta in 2021. He previously served on the Board of Raytheon prior to rejoining the civil service system.[3] Within 3 weeks of occupying the position of defense chief, Raytheon was awarded a $49 million contract by the Pentagon.[4] Austin walked away from Raytheon weeks earlier with a $1.7 million bonus and retirement package.[5]
Former Warsaw Pact members which had joined NATO sent their old Soviet-era junk to Ukraine, not out of fear of Russia or Vladimir Putin, but in exchange for new U.S. taxpayer-funded replacement equipment. The exchange of equipment kept Raytheon and other defense contractors employed, as well as Congressional funds flowing for upgrades and development of new weapons systems. Likewise Raytheon lobbyists in turn kickback donations out of the funds received from government contracts to members of congress' campaign committees.
On December 5 and 6, 2022 the Kiev regime carried out three drone attacks against airfields deep inside Russian territory. According to Russian arms negotiator Konstantin Gavrilov, "The Kharkov Aviation Plant carried out work to modernize the mentioned UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) with the participation of specialists from the Kiev Design Bureau Luch and US corporation Raytheon Technologies...The range of this drone is up to 1000 kilometers."
References
- ↑ Widow of U.S. Naval Pilot Shot Down by Friendly Fire in Iraq Sues Raytheon Company for Wrongful Death
- ↑ https://theintercept.com/2021/08/16/afghanistan-war-defense-stocks/
- ↑ https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/biden-embraces-the-military-industrial-complex-over-civilian-control
- ↑ https://bigleaguepolitics.com/raytheon-awarded-49-million-dod-contract-weeks-after-former-board-member-lloyd-austin-confirmed-as-defense-secretary/
- ↑ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-10/biden-defense-pick-to-get-up-to-1-7-million-from-raytheon-role