Raytheon Company: The First Sixty Years

Raytheons history is one of the great American success stories. Launched in 1922 the Cambridge-based company quickly moved to the forefront of innovation in the electronics industry. During World War II thousands of Raytheon workers contributed to the war effort supplying eighty percent of the magnetron tubes (vital components for U.S. and British radars) developing miniature tubes for the crucial proximity fuse in antiaircraft shells and providing entire radar systems. Although government contracts slowed after World War II Raytheon continued to develop military components including leading-edge radars and missiles for Americas defenses in the Cold War but it also began to offer a host of civilian products: the famous RadaRange (the worlds first microwave oven) televisions marine radars transistors miniature hearing aids and medical equipment.