RAYTHEON COMPANY

major American manufacturer of guided missiles, radar systems, and electronic systems for military communications and control. Headquarters are in Lexington, Mass. Raytheon was founded in 1922 as the American Appliance Company to make electrical parts. It changed its name to Raytheon, Inc., in 1925, and in 1928 a successor company, Raytheon Manufacturing Company, was formed to merge Raytheon and Q.R.S. Company, an Illinois manufacturer of rectifier tubes, mercury switches, and neon signs. Raytheon grew rapidly during World War II, when it began making radar systems for the U.S. military, and in the postwar decades it developed the Hawk, Sparrow, Sidewinder, Patriot, and other air-to-air and ground-to-air missiles. Raytheon sold its radio and television businesses to the Admiral Corporation in 1956, but it continued to diversify in the 1960s and '70s by purchasing companies that made refrigerators, gas ranges, and other home appliances. In 1980 it acquired the Beech Aircraft Company, a maker of single- and twin-engine planes for the general aviation market. The main customer for Raytheon's products remained the U.S. government, however. In addition to air-defense missile systems, the company made radar systems, communications systems, electronic defense and countermeasure equipment, and air-traffic and flight-control systems. Raytheon emerged as one of the largest American defense firms when that industry consolidated following the end of the Cold War. In 1997 Raytheon bought the defense units of Texas Instruments Inc., a maker of radar systems, missiles, and equipment for electronic warfare. That same year, Raytheon acquired the defense businesses of the Hughes Electronics Corporation from its owner, General Motors. This large acquisition made Raytheon the world's largest maker of missiles and further augmented its radar and military communications sales. At the same time, Raytheon sold off Amana Refrigeration and other consumer-appliance units in order to concentrate on its defense businesses.