Raytheon Looks to Bush White House
To Ease Access to New Aero Markets

Raytheon is hoping that changes planned by the Bush administration to the U.S. export licensing system will make the "business of international business" a quicker and easier process. At the same time the company expects the coming Rumsfeld defense review to have an important but not radical effect on weapons systems technology. Both these considerations will have a major effect on Raytheon's plans for international sales and co-operation.

In the European arena the company has made it clear that its No. 1 partner will be EADS, and the two firms are already working on several large aircraft projects, including air-to-air tankers, AEW platforms and maritime patrol aircraft.

Raytheon is "curious to see what will come from the Pentagon's review and what it will mean for international co-operation," says Tony Culligan, executive Raytheon VP for business development. "The decisions that are made will drive a lot of what we do for the next couple of years.
"The new administration is doing some things to shore-up the aerospace business, in particular changing procurement regulations," Culligan says. "We need more help with exports, with export restrictions and licenses, but we are making some headway with what has previously been a sticky issue. With President Bush we think we'll be able to move things forward in a way that we couldn't before."

Norman Ray, president of Raytheon International, identified EADS as a most important partner. He says that EADS and Raytheon are exploring co-operative programs for advanced maritime patrol aircraft, noting, "there is clearly a market for these aircraft in Europe." He also points to successful negotiations that Raytheon and Airbus has had on developing air-to-air refueling aircraft.

Raytheon is currently offering remanufactured and zero-timed P-3 Orions for a German and Italian navy requirement, and EADS is a likely candidate to supply the onboard mission fit. Raytheon has previously offered Airbus-derived tanker proposals to the UK and Germany, and the Airbus A310 is the platform for the Raytheon/Elta AEW system.

Though Ray notes, "Everyone is always talking to everyone," says Ray. "To the extent that we find a market that needs large aircraft we would be talking to Airbus. In all cases, Raytheon AIS will not necessarily take a Raytheon product-something that has caused contention within the company!"