Raytheon Co

Raytheon is a U.S. company headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. It is the world’s fourth-largest defense company and the largest producer of guided missiles. Raytheon specializes in air and missile defense systems, cybersecurity and surveillance, and missile systems. Its total revenue for 2017 was $25.3 billion. 32 percent of the company’s total net sales are international, almost half of which are Foreign Military Sales through the United States government. 17 percent of Raytheon’s sales are classified. Though Raytheon primarily manufactures military systems, the company also develops products for the civilian market, including air traffic management solutions, tools for data collection and analytics, and cybersecurity training ranges. Raytheon developed and built electronic tolling systems for highways around the world, including in Israel, Chile, and several US states.

Raytheon Military Sales to Israel

Over the last decade, Raytheon has participated in contracts worth over $4 billion to supply Israel with weapons. Raytheon has sold several missiles to Israel that are compatible with the launching systems of F-16 aircraft, including the AGM Maverick air-to-surface missile, the TOW missile, and the AIM-9X Sidewinder. In 2014, the US government approved a $544 million foreign military sale to Israel for up to 600 AIM-9X Sidewinder Missiles with Raytheon as the primary contractor. Raytheon has continued to provide maintenance and technical support for the missiles as of 2017. The company has also provided Israel with the TOW missile and the Phalanx CIWS, a close-in weapons system installed in the upgraded 4.5 Sa’ar missile ship of the Israeli Navy.

Raytheon produces a variety of missiles to arm Lockheed Martin’s F-35A aircraft, of which Israel has bought 33 as of 2018. The missiles include the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile, Paveway-guided bombs, and Sidewinder missiles. In addition, Raytheon has equipped the F-35 aircraft with a landing system and the Joint Miniature Munitions Bomb Rack Unit, which allows the aircraft to carry more weapons simultaneously inside the aircraft. Lockheed Martin selected Raytheon in 2018 to manufacture the Distributed Aperture System of future F-35 planes, which gives pilots a 360° view of the outside of the aircraft. Raytheon has also provided the Israeli Air Force with electronic radar systems for its F-15 aircraft fleet.

In 2015, Raytheon sold 250 AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles to Israel through US foreign military sales for $1.8 billion. According to the Israeli Air Force, Israeli F-16s are armed with AIM-120 missiles. The $1.8 billion contract with Israel included hundreds of Paveway kits, which convert traditional “dumb” bombs to precision-guided “smart” bombs, although it is unclear whether Raytheon or Lockheed Martin manufactured the kits. Raytheon also sold Israel GBU-28 “bunker buster” bombs, designed to penetrate to targets deep underground, in 2009 and 2005.

Raytheon has helped provide Israel with anti-missile defense systems such as the Patriot system, the Iron Dome, and David’s Sling. Raytheon also produces the firing units of the David’s Sling system. Raytheon has continued to provide engineering support for the Patriot as of 2018.

Collaboration with the Israeli Military Industry

Raytheon collaborated with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, an Israeli state-owned military defense company, to create the Stunner Terminal Missile Defense Interceptor, the medium-range guided missile of the David’s Sling system. According to John Patterson, the public relations director for Raytheon Missile Systems, Raytheon maintains an “excellent working relationship” with Rafael.

Raytheon collaborated with IMI Systems (previously a state-owned Israeli defense company known as Israel Military Industries, now owned by Elbit Systems) to develop 120mm GPS-guided precision mortars in 2008. In 2009, Raytheon and IMI Systems manufactured a similar system, known as the Dagger, that the two companies jointly marketed to the United States military.

Raytheon has a facility located in Ra’anana, Israel through the cybersecurity company Forcepoint, a joint venture with Vista Equity Partners.

Raytheon Weapons Used in Attacks on Palestinian Civilians

Raytheon missiles and bombs have been used repeatedly in Israeli attacks on densely populated civilian areas, resulting in thousands of civilian casualties in the West Bank and Gaza. The human rights community, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, B’Tselem, and United Nations commissions, has ruled these attacks to be human rights violations, collective punishment, and at times war crimes.

In 2008-2009, Israel used F-16 aircraft, which carry Raytheon missiles, to launch an assault on Gaza (“Operation Cast Lead”) that killed 1,383 Palestinians, of whom 333 were children, and injured another 5,300 people. Amnesty International officials also documented the fragments of a 500-lb bomb dropped in Gaza in 2009 with Raytheon markings, the sale of which they were able to trace back to a US government contract. Pieces of Raytheon-made TOW missiles were found in Gaza that same year. It is also likely that Israel used Raytheon GBU-28 bunker buster bombs during Operation Cast Lead, although this has not been confirmed. Altogether, Israeli forces destroyed the homes of over 3,400 Palestinian families and left thousands of civilians homeless and physically impaired. According to a report published by the United Nations Human Rights Council, Israeli forces deliberately targeted civilian objects and failed to take every possible precaution to minimize civilian casualties, thereby violating customary international law.

The Israeli military used F-16 fighter jets with Raytheon missiles in its 2014 assault of Gaza (“Operation Protective Edge”). Experts from Amnesty International believe that Paveway bombs, most likely produced by Raytheon, were also used in several airstrikes on Gaza during Operation Protective Edge. Overall, 2,251 Palestinians were killed, of whom 1,462 were civilians. Israeli forces conducted over 6,000 airstrikes in Gaza and damaged or destroyed 18,000 housing units, 73 medical facilities, and many ambulances, leaving over 100,000 people homeless. Defense for Children International found that of the 550 children killed during Operation Protective Edge, 225 were killed by missiles dropped from Israeli warplanes.

During Operation Protective Edge, the Israeli military also used the 120mm guided mortars that Raytheon co-developed with IMI Systems to kill 20 civilians outside of a UNRWA school in Jabaliya, Gaza, which was being used as a shelter. According to a report by the United Nations Human Rights Council, Israeli forces may have violated international human rights law and committed war crimes on numerous occasions because of their apparent disregard for the preservation of civilian life.

F-16 aircraft were repeatedly used in 2018 to conduct airstrikes in Gaza, resulting in civilian deaths. In February, Israeli missiles launched from F-16 warplanes killed two 17-year-old Palestinian teenagers during six extensive airstrikes, the largest assault since Operation Protective Edge. The attacks wounded two more Palestinians and damaged civilian homes. In July, Israeli forces used F-16 aircraft, helicopters, and unmanned aerial drones to launch about 85 missiles at the Gaza Strip, killing two children and injuring 28 people. The attack damaged residential homes and partially damaged or destroyed numerous ambulances and trucks transporting medical supplies.

Sa’ar missile ships with Raytheon Phalanx weapons systems are used to enforce the illegal naval siege of the Gaza Strip. Israel limits Gaza fishermen to an area no wider than 3 to 6 miles off the coast, severely limiting their access to fishing. The restriction is in contravention of the Oslo Agreements which state that Gaza fishermen should have a clearance of 20 nautical miles off the coast. Even when within the 3 and 6 mile boundaries, Gaza fishermen risk being attacked by Israeli naval vessels, which have killed and injured fishermen and damaged or confiscated their boats. Multiple leading human rights organizations (here, here, and here) consider the siege of the Gaza Strip to be collective punishment in clear violation of Israel’s obligations under international law. In 2016, United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon condemned the blockade of Gaza as “collective punishment” and called for accountability. A Sa’ar ship also participated in the Israeli attack on the unarmed Free Gaza Flotilla in 2010, resulting in the killing of 10 humanitarian activists. In November 2017, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Fatou Bensouda reaffirmed that “there is a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes were committed by some members of the Israel Defence Forces” during the attack on the Free Gaza Flotilla in 2010. The Israeli Navy also used an older version of the Sa’ar to enforce a naval blockade on Lebanon during the 2006 Lebanon war.

Raytheon Weapons Used in Attacks on Civilians in Yemen

Raytheon’s weapons have been used by the Saudi-led international coalition to perform repeated airstrikes on Yemen, 36 of which Amnesty International has described as violations of international law and possible war crimes. These assaults have killed 513 civilians and injured 379 more. In August 2017, a coalition airstrike killed 16 civilians and injured another 17; Amnesty International has identified at least one of the bombs as Raytheon-built. Human Rights Watch identified the use of Raytheon’s GBU-12 Paveway bombs in an attack in 2016 that targeted a water drilling rig, killing 31 civilians, including 3 children. One of the bombs indicated it had been manufactured in October 2015, by which time human rights organizations had already reported multiple attacks violating international law that the coalition had committed against Yemeni civilians.

Raytheon has provided the U.S. government with Tomahawk cruise missiles used in an attack that killed 41 civilians in Yemen in 2009. Amnesty International described the attack as “at the very least unlawful” and “grossly irresponsible.”

Raytheon “Pain Ray” Weapon Provided to Military and Prison Authorities

Raytheon developed the Active Denial System (ADS) for the US military as a non-lethal weapon. The machine emits millimeter beams meant to reproduce the sensation of intense heat at the level of a human’s pain receptors, producing pulses that cause maximum pain while avoiding physical damage. Raytheon originally sold the ADS to the US government for use in Iraq in 2005; however, the device was not deployed until 2010 in Afghanistan. It was recalled without having been utilized, possibly due to fear of potential misuse.

In 2010, Raytheon sold a version of the ADS to the Los Angeles County Jail, called the Assault Intervention Device or Silent Guardian. According to the ACLU of Southern California, allowing the device to be deployed in the prison creates “a wholly unjustified risk that detainees will be needlessly subjected to excessive force -- indeed, a use of force tantamount to torture, in violation of the Eighth Amendment, basic human rights norms, and international law.” In 2013, Andrew Lars Fuchs filed a lawsuit claiming that prison officers abused the device, causing him serious burns and long-term health injuries.

Since Raytheon’s production of the Active Denial System, several other countries have reportedly developed their own “pain ray”, including Israel (known as WaveStun), China, and Russia. As of 2018, there are no reports that the devices have been used operationally outside of the Los Angeles County Jail.