FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW: Raytheon, of all the American defense contractors, has made the biggest commitment to air shows in the last three years in hopes of boosting the company’s foreign market share to 30 percent from the current quarter of company business.
Every American defense company, watching the debate over sequestration and the long-term prospects of U.S. defense spending, is hoping to ratchet up its foreign business to keep cash flowing and profits solid.
Raytheon’s space and airborne systems division is one of the most active American forces pursuing foreign sales, so we sat down with Rick Yuse, its president, to talk about what regions he’s reaching out to — no prizes for guessing Asia-Pacific and the Middle East — and what kind of gear he wants to market.
Marines eye 2025 fielding of 3 new, mobile air defense systems
“We are on track from a programmatic standpoint — cost, schedule performance — but we’re always gonna be late to need,” said Col. Andrew Konicki, the program manager for Ground Based Air Defense (GBAD). “The threat is ever changing and ever evolving.”