Does RTX Corporation support Israel?

Raytheon (now RTX) has co-developed Israel's David's Sling air-defense system with state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems since the program began in 2006: Raytheon helped develop the two-stage Stunner interceptor and produces the system's missile firing units. Framed precisely: the program is jointly funded by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the Israel Missile Defense Organization, so U.S. government money underwrites much of the work. David's Sling was declared operational with the Israeli Air Force in 2017, and Raytheon markets the SkyCeptor derivative of the Stunner to other countries such as Poland.

Raytheon Missiles & Defense and Rafael signed a joint venture — Raytheon Rafael Area Protection Systems, now known as R2S — to build the first Iron Dome all-up-round production facility outside Israel, manufacturing Tamir interceptors and the SkyHunter U.S. derivative. The JV capped more than a decade of Raytheon-Rafael teaming on Iron Dome: after the March 2014 U.S.-Israel co-production agreement opened Iron Dome component manufacturing to U.S. industry, Raytheon became Rafael's U.S. production partner for Tamir components. Iron Dome development and interceptor procurement have been funded in large part by U.S. government appropriations to Israel.

The Raytheon-Rafael R2S joint venture received a $1.25 billion contract from the Israel Missile Defense Organization (part of Israel's Ministry of Defense) to produce Tamir interceptors, missile kits and test equipment for Israel's Iron Dome. This is a direct commercial sale to the Israeli government — not a U.S. Foreign Military Sales case — filled from the JV's new East Camden, Arkansas plant, the first U.S. facility to build complete Tamir rounds; the same plant builds the SkyHunter variant for the U.S. Marine Corps.

During the Gaza war, the U.S. State Department approved a $102.5 million Foreign Military Sale to Israel of 30 AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles plus a spare guidance section, with RTX Corporation (Tucson, Arizona) as prime contractor. Framed precisely: this is a government-to-government sale — the U.S. government contracts RTX to build the missiles for Israel — announced as part of the August 2024 package of arms approvals for Israel.

Two weeks after October 7, then-CEO Greg Hayes told investors on RTX's Q3 2023 earnings call — when asked about increased U.S. defense funding tied to Israel — that "across the entire Raytheon portfolio, you're going to see a benefit of this restocking," adding the conflict would likely lead to additional orders on top of a rising Pentagon budget. This was an executive statement about business opportunity from the war, not a donation.