Raytheon Technologies history

In 1924 Marshall made a three-month tour of the United States to study the pattern of growth in the electronics market.

1925: Company changes its name to Raytheon Manufacturing Company and begins making tubes for radios.

By 1926, Raytheon had become a major manufacturer of tube rectifiers and generated $321,000 in profit on sales of $1 million.

By 1927, Cossor launched his famous Melody Maker radio set that would soon become a centerpiece of British homes.

In 1928 Raytheon merged with Q.R.S. Company, an American manufacturer of electron tubes and switches, to form the successor of the same name, Raytheon Manufacturing Company.

In 1929, National Carbon took a $500,000 equity position in Raytheon and held an option to buy the remaining portion of the company for an additional $19.5 million.

In 1933 it diversified by acquiring Acme-Delta Company, a producer of transformers, power equipment, and electronic auto parts.

United Aircraft Corporation was formed in 1934 from the portions of United Aircraft and Transport east of the Mississippi River (Pratt & Whitney, Sikorsky, Vought, and Hamilton Standard Propeller Company) with Frederick Rentschler, founder of Pratt & Whitney.

By 1936, Cossor achieved another historic milestone by becoming the first company in the U.K. to sell a television set.

National Carbon allowed its option to acquire Raytheon to lapse in 1938.

1940: Raytheon is chosen to develop magnetrons, a tube used in microwave radar systems, marking the company's entrance into defense technology.

In June 1941 Raytheon also won a contract to deliver 100 radar systems for navy ships.

During the spring of 1945 Raytheon's management formulated plans to acquire several other electronics firms.

When the two companies agreed to merge on May 31, 1946, it was decided that Sub-Sig would specialize in sonar devices and that Raytheon would continue to develop new radar systems.

Charles F. Adams, a former financial advisor who joined Raytheon in 1947, assumed Marshall's responsibilities.

Belmont, which planned to bring its television to market in late 1948, suffered a crippling strike during the summer and, as a result, lost much of its projected Christmas business.

The sudden resumption of military orders after the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 greatly benefited Raytheon, as Defense Department contracts enabled the company to develop new technologies with initially low profitability.

In another case, Raytheon was ordered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to treat groundwater at the Tucson Plant (acquired during the merger with Hughes) in Arizona since Raytheon used and disposed metals, chlorinated solvents, and other substances at the plant since 1951.

In 1954 it entered into a joint venture with Honeywell to form the Datamatic corporation.

In 1958, Raytheon acquired the marine electronics company Applied Electronics Company, which significantly increased its strength in commercial marine navigation and radio gear, as well as less-expensive Japanese suppliers of products such as marine/weather band radios and direction-finding gear.

In 1961, the British electronics company A.C. Cossor merged with Raytheon, following its sale by Philips.

Raytheon's top managers began to recognize weaknesses in the company's organizational structure perhaps as early as 1962; Raytheon, they decided, had become too dependent on government contracts.

D. Brainerd Holmes, a former director of the American manned space flight program, joined Raytheon in 1963 to manage the company's military business, reporting to Phillips.

So in 1964 Adams and Phillips, who had become chairman and president, respectively, conceived a plan that aimed to diversify the company's operations.

In 1965 Raytheon acquired Amana Refrigeration Company.

In 1966, the company entered the educational publishing business with the acquisition of D.C. Heath and Company, marketing an influential physics textbook developed by the Physical Science Study Committee.

Raytheon's association with Selenia became strained in 1967.

The goal of reducing Raytheon's proportion of sales to the government from 85 percent to 50 percent was achieved on schedule in 1970.

Raytheon's Data Systems division, created in 1971 through the merger of the company's information processing and display units, established a small market by manufacturing terminals for airline reservation systems.

In 1972, after several relatively small acquisitions, Raytheon purchased Iowa Manufacturing Company (later called Cedarapids, Inc.), a producer of road-building equipment.

When Charles Adams retired as chair in 1975, Tom Phillips was elected the new chairman and chief executive officer.

1976: Production of the Patriot missile defense system begins.

In 1977 Phillips tried to acquire Falcon Seaboard, an energy resources company involved primarily in strip mining coal, but withdrew the offer when favorable terms could not be reached.

Raytheon failed, however, to integrate Data Systems effectively with a word processing subsidiary called Lexitron, which it acquired in 1978.

Raytheon acquired Beech in February 1980 for $800 million.

After mounting losses, the division was sold to Telex in 1984.

In January 1986 Raytheon acquired the Yeargin Construction Company, a builder of electrical and chemical plants, and the following October it acquired the Stearns Catalytic World Corporation, an industrial plant maintenance company.

The new affiliate recorded annual losses in each of the ensuing seven years, finally turning a profit in 1988.

Picard succeeded Tom Phillips as chairman and chief executive of Raytheon in 1990, and Max E. Bleck rose to president.

In November 1991, prior to Raytheon's acquisition, contamination had been discovered at the E-Systems site.

In 1992, Picard announced a new five-year plan.

The corporation's environmental and energy service was consolidated to form Raytheon Engineers & Constructors International Inc. (RECI), one of the world's largest engineering and construction groups, in 1993.

An extensive overhaul of the appliance segment, including downsizing, consolidation, and the 1994 acquisition of UniMac Companies, helped increase that division's sales and profits.

Raytheon, meantime, exited from the publishing field with the 1995 sale of D.C. Heath to Houghton Mifflin Co. for $455 million.

Both Raytheon and AGES had been vying for the contract, which Raytheon had held for decades but which AGES won in 1996.

In December 1997, the company also created a new subsidiary called Raytheon Systems Limited, which was based in the United Kingdom and was formed to develop products for export from that country.

Divestments continued in 1998, including the sale of the firm's commercial laundry business for $334 million.

On the positive side for 1999, Raytheon contracted with the United Kingdom to develop a $1.3 billion high-tech radar surveillance system called Airborne Stand-Off Radar.

↑ Raytheon (July 24, 2000). Raytheon and its Employees Contribute $8 Million to the United Way Press release.

A Raytheon Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile during a United States Navy flight test at NAWS China Lake, California (November 10, 2002)

Raytheon, for instance, contributed nearly a million dollars to various defense-related political campaigns in the presidential election year of 2004, spending much more than that on lobbying expenses.

In November 2005, Raytheon launched 'MathMovesU', an educational initiative intended to make math and science more interesting and accessible for young people, funded by $1 million in annual grants.

In November 2006, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) was honored by Special Olympics Massachusetts (SOMA) for its continued support of the organization through funding and support of more than 700 volunteers in 2006.

In November 2007, Raytheon purchased Sarcos for an undisclosed sum, seeking to expand into robotics research and production.

The trial of six of the accused began May 19, 2008, in the Laganside Courts in Belfast.

The acquisition was completed on October 29, 2009.

In December 2010, Applied Signal Technology agreed to be acquired by Raytheon for $490 million.

More than 90% of Raytheon's revenues were obtained from military contracts and, as of 2012, it was the fifth-largest military contractor in the world, and is the fourth largest defense contractor in the United States by revenue.

↑ Gallagher, Ryan (10 February 2013). "Software that tracks people on social media created by defence firm". http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/10/software-tracks-social-media-defence.

In October 2014, Raytheon beat rivals Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman for a contract to build 3DELRR, a next-generation long-range radar system, for the US Air Force worth an estimated $1 billion.

In May 2015, Raytheon acquired cybersecurity firm Websense, Inc. from Vista Equity Partners for $1.9 billion and combined it with RCP, formerly part of its IIS segment to form Raytheon|Websense.

In January 2016, Raytheon|Websense acquired the firewall provider Stonesoft from Intel Security for an undisclosed amount and renamed itself to Forcepoint.

In 2017, Saudi Arabia signed business deals worth billions of dollars with multiple American companies, including Raytheon.

In July 2019, Qatar's Ministry of Defense committed to acquire Raytheon’s NASAM and Patriot missile defense systems.