Controversies
As the vast majority of Raytheon's revenues have been obtained from defense contracts, there has been a tight relationship of cooperation between itself and the U.S. Department of Defense and other U.S. government departments and agencies (e.g. in the Fiscal Year 2007 the National Science Foundation awarded Raytheon $152 million dollars in grants, more than to any other institution and organization in the country, for managing NSF South Pole Station). This, along with heavy lobbying, has led to perennial charges of influence peddling. Raytheon, for instance, contributed nearly a million dollars to various defense-related political campaigns in the presidential election year of 2004, spending much more than that on lobbying expenses. And there are many tight ties between the company and all levels of government. For example, Richard Armitage, a former United States Deputy Secretary of State, is linked to the company through consultancy work. John M. Deutch, a former U.S. Director of Central Intelligence, sits on the board of directors, along with Warren Rudman, a former Senator. On the other hand, Raytheon has also been involved in several contract disputes with the U.S. Government.
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