Raytheon, also known as Raytheon Technologies and now known as the RTX Corporation as of a 2023 rebranding, with "Raytheon" remaining a division under RTX,[1] is a major defense contractor based in the United States of America. Ranked by revenue, RTX was ranked as the second largest defense contractor in the world by Defense News in 2022[2] and 2023.[3] Raytheon's CEO is Greg Hayes.[4] Raytheon affiliates contributed $506,424 in donations to US President Biden's presidential campaign.[5][6]
On a January 25, 2022 earnings call, CEO Greg Hayes listed "tensions in Eastern Europe" and "tensions in the South China Sea" among things which he "fully expect we're going to see some benefit from" in relation to "opportunities for international sales".[4][7] In a 2023 earnings call, Hayes stated that the company was "very encouraged" by President Biden's 2024 budget request of $886 billion for the Pentagon.[8] Hayes also noted that Poland had announced plans to spend 4% of their GDP on defense, the highest level among all NATO countries, and that Raytheon would continue to "support Ukraine's ongoing needs", concluding with a claim that the demand environment for Raytheon was remaining strong.[9]
Raytheon is among the influential corporations commonly involved in the "revolving door" between public and private sector activities surrounding the military industrial complex. For example, Lloyd Austin, President Biden's appointed Secretary of Defense, is a former member of Raytheon's Board of Directors.[6] Prior to Austin, the US Secretary of Defense, appointed by President Trump, was Mark Esper, a former Raytheon lobbyist.[10] In 2023, Eyes on the Ties reported that "RTX’s board contains revolving door figures such as former Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert O. Work, and former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, James A. Winnefeld Jr."[11]
In 2022, peace activists belonging to the group Resist and Abolish the Military-Industrial Complex (RAM INC) occupied the roof of a Raytheon facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts to protest the company's war profiteering in Ukraine, Yemen, Palestine, and elsewhere. The activists remained on the roof for five hours before being arrested.[12]
AFSC Investigate reports that Raytheon has been a major supplier of weapons to the coalition war on Yemen,[13] noting that Raytheon's Paveway bombs have routinely targeted civilians in airstrikes in Yemen, citing examples such as Amnesty International's 2019 identification of Raytheon Paveway bomb remnants from a bomb that resulted in the death of six civilians,[14] a 2017 case of a Raytheon Paveway bomb killing a family of eight in a residential neighborhood,[15] and a 2016 case where Human Rights Watch found Raytheon Paveway remnants at the site of airstrikes which killed at least 31 civilians and injured 42 others.[16][13]
See also
References
- ↑ Moore-Carrillo, Jaime. “Raytheon Rebrands as RTX.” Defense News. June 20, 2023.
- ↑ Demarest, Colin. “Raytheon Prototyping Directed-Energy Zappers for US Air Force, Navy.” Defense News. December 26, 2023.
- ↑ “Top 100 Defense Companies.” Defensenews.com.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lazare, Sarah. “Top Weapons Companies Boast Ukraine-Russia Tensions Are a Boon for Business.” In These Times. January 27, 2022.
- ↑ “RTX Corp Profile: Summary: Top Recipients.” OpenSecrets.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Kuzmarov, Jeremy. “Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin—Former Member of Raytheon Board of Directors—Has Awarded over $30 Billion in Contracts to Raytheon since His Confirmation in January, 2021.” CovertAction Magazine. March 11, 2023. Archived 2023-10-11.
- ↑ Motley Fool Transcribing. “Raytheon Technologies (RTX) Q4 2021 Earnings Call Transcript.” The Motley Fool. January 25, 2022.
- ↑ Giorno, Taylor. “Over 500 Former Government Officials Are Now Lobbying for Defense Contractors.” Truthout. May 6, 2023. Archived 2023-06-03.
- ↑ Thomson Reuters StreetEvents. “Q1 2023 Raytheon Technologies Corp Earnings Call.” Yahoo Finance. April 26, 2023. Archived 2023-07-11.
- ↑ Jordan Libowitz and Linnaea Honl-Stuenkel. “Mark Esper, Former Raytheon Weapons Lobbyist, Is in Charge of the Pentagon.” CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. September 17, 2020. Archived 2023-12-22.
- ↑ Molly Gott and Derek Seidman. "Corporate Enablers of Israel’s War on Gaza." Eyes on the Ties, LittleSis.org, October 26, 2023. Archived 2024-01-06.
- ↑ Johnson, Jake. “Peace Activists Occupy Roof of Raytheon Building to Protest War Profiteering.” Common Dreams. March 21, 2022. Archived 2023-03-18.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "RTX Corp." AFSC Investigate. Archived 2024-03-13.
- ↑ “Yemen: US-Made Bomb Used in Deadly Air Strike on Civilians.” Amnesty International. September 26, 2019. Archived 2023-03-13.
- ↑ “Yemen: US-Made Bomb Kills and Maims Children in Deadly Strike on Residential Homes.” Amnesty International. September 22, 2017. Archived 2024-01-20.
- ↑ “Yemen: US-Made Bombs Used in Unlawful Airstrikes.” Human Rights Watch. December 8, 2016. Archived 2023-12-08.