Magnetron Tubes

The onset of World War II was Raytheon's introduction to defense-applied technology. British scientists had developed short-wave, or microwave, radar to detect enemy aircraft; however, they were unable to perfect or mass produce the magnetron tube which was the heart of the radar's function. Britain considered the radar to be its most important advantage against Nazi raids because it enabled them to "see" at night when the Nazis were virtually blind. In urgent need to mass produce the tens of thousands of magnetron tubes that would be required to thwart Luftwaffe raids and counterattack the Germans, British scientists turned to the United States, seeking help from America's largest industrial firms. Raytheon, which already had been experimenting with microwave tubes and producing transmitting tubes, was considered too small to be in the running. Nonetheless, at the suggestion of MIT's Radiation Laboratory, a meeting was arranged between Britain's leading scientists and Raytheon engineer Percy L. Spencer.

Spencer, a man with only a grade school education yet a remarkable sense of curiosity, listened carefully to the British describe their method of producing the magnetron tubes, a process Spencer boldly informed them was "awkward and impractical." He persuaded the scientists to allow him to take home the tube, Britain's most valuable secret weapon, and over the weekend Percy not only came up with radical changes that would simplify the manufacturing process, his recommendations also would improve the functioning of the radar. Impressed, Britain awarded, through the MIT Radiation Laboratory, "little" Raytheon a small contract to supply the magnetrons at the same time it awarded giant Western Electric a large contract. Raytheon eventually was established as the major magnetron supplier during the war, providing the most important military advantage for Britain and the Allied Forces. At the end of the war, Raytheon was producing 80 percent of all magnetrons, leaving Western Electric, RCA, GE and other giants far behind.

Shipboard Radar

Unlike Britain and other Allies whose defense in World War II was focused largely on land and air counterattack, the United States was in peril of defeat at sea, which, if successful, would have cut off the nation from both its European and Pacific allies. In the Atlantic, heavily armed Nazi U-boats roamed at will, and every U.S. Naval vessel was needed in a dozen places simultaneously. The creation of shipboard radar and instruments to overcome the U-boats was crucial for the United States.

Raytheon's Fritz Gross, one of the company's most talented young engineers, developed the microwave SG radar, a shipboard radar that was far superior to the radars carried in planes because the German submarines could not tune in on their frequencies as they could with aircraft radar. In 1942, Raytheon began manufacturing the radar for PT boats, a feat other manufacturers previously had claimed was impossible, and by the end of the war, every U.S. PT boat was equipped with the Raytheon radar. Raytheon radar and radio played an important role in the battles of the Atlantic by protecting Allied convoys, allowing them to see at night and to search out and destroy U-boats. As a result of the Allied forces technological advantage, Nazi Germany began for the first time to feel like the hunted rather than the hunter.

Microwave Cooking

Raytheon's discovery of microwave cooking in 1945 was initially an accident, but its development, like so many others, can be credited to Percy Spencer. A candy bar in Spencer's pocket began to melt as he stood in front of a magnetron tube that had been switched on. Intrigued, he placed kernels of popcorn in front of the tube, and they too popped. He then conducted a similar experiment with a raw egg, which exploded when the inside yolk cooked faster than the outside of the egg. Scientists familiar with magnetrons knew the tubes generated heat at the same time they radiated the microwave energy that made radar possible. Spencer was the first, however, to discover that one could cook food using microwave radio signals.

In 1947, Raytheon demonstrated the world's first microwave oven and called it a "Radarange," the winning name in an employee contest. Housed in refrigerator-sized cabinets, the first microwave ovens cost between $2,000 and $3,000 and were sold by Raytheon primarily to the commercial marketplace. By the early 1950s, domestic appliance makers began showing interest in the microwave. Lacking the distribution and marketing infrastructure to promote and sell the product on its own, Raytheon entered into a licensing agreement with Tappan Stove Company in 1952. In 1955, Tappan introduced the first domestic microwave oven, which featured a more compact but less powerful microwave generating system. With a price tag of approximately $1,300, these domestic models fared only modestly.

It was Raytheon's 1965 acquisition of Amana Refrigeration, Inc.--an Iowa-based manufacturer of refrigerators and air conditioners with a well established distribution channel--that ultimately made the microwave oven a fixture in U.S. households. In 1967, Raytheon introduced the first countertop, domestic 100-volt microwave oven, which cost just under $500 and was smaller, safer and more reliable than previous models. The market exploded, women were on their way to becoming more independent of laborious household chores, and Raytheon, under the Amana name, became the dominant player in the home microwave oven business.

Guided Missiles

Despite the effectiveness of radar in World War II, there remained little defense against low flying planes which still could not be detected by standard pulse radar. As a result, the Japanese created a new weapon-- human rockets--Kamikaze aircraft that flew low over the ground and appeared suddenly on the horizon to intermingle with American planes and dive bomb U.S. ships. What was needed was continuous-wave radar capable of tracking moving objects--even through electronic clutter caused by sea waves and ground contours. The ability to isolate moving objects from surrounding clutter on the basis of speed, instead of distance, opened up new possibilities for a missile that could not only seek out but also destroy any airborne enemy target.

In 1948, Raytheon became the first company to develop a missile guidance system that could hit a flying target. The company's early experimental missiles, including the history-making Lark, contained a guidance system in which both the radar transmitter and receiver were carried in the nose of the missile itself. However, this type of guidance system, called an active seeker, had a limited homing range, and Raytheon later developed a semi-active seeker with the radar transmitter stationary at the missile firing point while the receiver, which picked up the signal bouncing off the target, was located on the missile.

Based on Raytheon's success in missile seekers, the Navy awarded Raytheon a contract for the Sparrow air- to-air missile and the Army awarded Raytheon a contract for the Hawk ground-to-air missile. These missile systems are now deployed by the U.S. and dozens of Allied nations around the world.

NASA Communications Systems

When the world stopped to watch as astronauts Neil Armstrong and Colonel Edwin Aldrin stepped out of Apollo XI and drove an American flag into the moon's surface, Raytheon watched with special interest. The Apollo XI had been sent aloft by a Saturn booster rocket, made a successful trip to the moon and returned safely to earth. It was considered the greatest engineering feat in history, and the United States had invested immense amounts of time, scientific explorations, engineering talent and money to achieve it. Raytheon had contributed to the effort at the highest level, by designing and manufacturing the computer that guided the space vehicles in their historic journey.

Patriot Missile System

In 1967, Raytheon was awarded a contract for the U.S. Army's Surface-to-Air Missile Development (SAM- D), a missile designed to provide defense against high-performance aircraft. In development for nine years, the SAM-D entered full-scale production in 1976, at which time it was renamed the "Patriot" in honor of the U.S bicentennial celebration. In 1986, the Patriot Advanced Capability Phase 1 (PAC-1) missile, upgraded with anti-tactical missile capabilities, intercepted and destroyed a Lance missile in flight, successfully proving itself against short-range ballistic missiles.

It was the 1991 Persian Gulf War that put Raytheon's Patriot to the real test of military conflict when upgraded Patriot Advanced Capability Phase 2 (PAC-2) missiles successfully intercepted and destroyed Iraqi Scud missiles fired at Israel and Saudi Arabia. Credited with saving lives and changing the course of the war, the Patriot earned worldwide recognition as the first missile in history to successfully engage a hostile ballistic missile in combat.

Transistors

Recognized as one of the most important inventions of the 20th century, the transistor is credited with giving birth to the information age. 2004 marked the 50th anniversary of the commercial transistor, a defining moment in history that marked the beginning of the modern electronic age in which Raytheon played a key role.

The transistor, a device composed of semiconductor material that amplifies a signal or opens or closes a circuit, was originally conceived at Bell Labs in 1947 by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley. In 1948, Raytheon released the first commercially produced transistor, the CK703 point contact transistor. This was followed by the CK722 germanium junction transistor, the first transistor sold to the public. In 1954, the Texas Instruments/Regency Electronics partnership released the first commercially produced transistor radio, the Regency TR-1. Raytheon responded the next year with its own version of the transistor radio, the 8TP-4.

Transistors have completely revolutionized electronic technology. They are the major component in all digital circuits today. The transistor opened the door to commercial electronics, creating a market for personal radios, invisible ‘in-the-ear’ hearing aids, pace makers, portable televisions, and eventually computers, digital cameras and cell phones. Today, our personal computers operate at tremendous speeds because of advanced processors made up of millions of microscopic transistors.