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RTX Corporation

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RTX Corporation

RTX Corporation, formerly Raytheon Technologies Corporation, is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitalization, as well as one of the largest providers of intelligence services. In 2023, the company's seat in Forbes Global 2000 was 79. Through its business units Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney and Raytheon, RTX manufactures aircraft engines, avionics, aerostructures, cybersecurity solutions, guided missiles, air defense systems, satellites, and drones. The company is a large military contractor, getting much of its revenue from the U.S. government.

The company was formed in 2020 by a merger of equals between the aerospace subsidiaries of United Technologies Corporation (UTC) and the Raytheon Company. Before the merger, UTC spun off its non-aerospace subsidiaries Otis Elevator Company and Carrier Corporation. The merged company adopted the better-known name of Raytheon in the form Raytheon Technologies Corporation and transferred headquarters to Waltham, Massachusetts. Former UTC CEO and chairman Gregory J. Hayes is chairman and CEO of the combined company, which renamed Raytheon Technologies Corporation to RTX in July 2023.

The Raytheon Company was founded in 1922 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by Laurence K. Marshall, Vannevar Bush, and Charles G. Smith as the American Appliance Company. Its focus, which was originally on new refrigeration technology, soon shifted to electronics. The company's first product was a gaseous (helium) rectifier that was based on Charles Smith's earlier astronomical research of the star Zeta Puppis. The electron tube was christened with the name Raytheon ("light of/from the gods") and was used in a battery eliminator, a type of radio-receiver power supply that plugged into the power grid in place of large batteries. This made it possible to convert household alternating current to direct current for radios and thus eliminate the need for expensive, short-lived batteries.

In 1925, the company changed its name to Raytheon Manufacturing Company and began marketing its rectifier under the Raytheon brand name, with commercial success. 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.[citation needed] By the 1930s, it had already grown to become one of the world's largest vacuum tube manufacturing companies.[citation needed] In 1933 it diversified by acquiring Acme-Delta Company, a producer of transformers, power equipment, and electronic auto parts.

During World War II, Raytheon mass-manufactured magnetron tubes for use in microwave radar sets and then complete radar systems. At war's end in 1945, the company was responsible for about 80 percent of all magnetrons manufactured. During the war, Raytheon also pioneered the production of shipboard radar systems, particularly for submarine detection. Raytheon ranked 71st among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts. In 1945, Raytheon's Percy Spencer invented the microwave oven by discovering that the magnetron could rapidly heat food. In 1947, the company demonstrated the Radarange microwave oven for commercial use.

After the war, Raytheon developed the first guidance system for a missile that could intercept a flying target. In 1948, Raytheon began to manufacture guided missiles, including the SAM-N-2 Lark, and eventually the air-to-air AIM-7 Sparrow, and the ground-to-air MIM-23 Hawk missiles. In 1959, Raytheon acquired the marine electronics company Apelco Applied Electronics, which significantly increased its strength in commercial marine navigation and radio gear, and changed its name to Raytheon Company.

During the post-war years, Raytheon also made generally low- to medium-powered radio and television transmitters and related equipment for the commercial market. In the 1950s, Raytheon began manufacturing transistors, including the CK722, priced for and marketed to hobbyists. Under the direction of Thomas L. Phillips in 1965, it acquired Amana Refrigeration, Inc., a manufacturer of refrigerators and air conditioners. Using the Amana brand name and its distribution channels, Raytheon began selling the first countertop household microwave oven in 1967 and became a dominant manufacturer in the microwave oven business.

In 1991, during the Persian Gulf War, Raytheon's Patriot missile received great international exposure. It was credited for downing Iraqi Scud missiles. The exposure resulted in a substantial increase in sales for the company outside the United States. By 2006, Raytheon reported $283.9 million in global revenues for its Patriot missile system.

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