An AIM-9X Sidewinder Missile, AMRAAM missile and a NASAMS Air Defense System on display at the Raytheon Technologies Corporation RTX exhibition during the Farnborough International Airshow 2024, on July 23, 2024 in Farnborough, England. Getty Images / John Keeble
RTX fined $200M for exporting defense tech to China, Russia, Iran
Among other violations, employees traveled abroad with unauthorized technical data about U.S. aircraft and other weapons.
Raytheon will pay a $200 million fine for the unauthorized export of defense technology to China, Russia, Iran, and elsewhere, the State Department announced today.
The settlement will cover 750 violations of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR, according to State’s press release. It allows the company to put half of the fine toward “remedial compliance measures to strengthen RTX’s compliance program.”
The settlement “addresses RTX’s unauthorized exports of defense articles resulting from the failure to establish proper jurisdiction and classification; unauthorized exports of defense articles, including classified defense articles; unauthorized exports of defense articles by employees via hand-carry to proscribed destinations,” according to the statement.
Those destinations include China, Iran, Lebanon, and Russia, according to the department’s charging letter, which includes additional details about the settlement. The letter describes violations from August 2017 to September 2023.
Company employees traveled to these countries bearing classified and controlled technical data from a slew of Pentagon aircraft and weapons programs, including the stealthy F-22 fighter jet and the E-3 radar plane.
Last month, RTX told investors during an earnings call that it set aside more than $1 billion to settle a number of government investigations, including a State Department inquest into export-control violations.
In a statement today, RTX said: “Today’s action is in line with the company’s expectations, which we disclosed during the company’s second quarter earnings report on July 25, 2024.”
Company officials declined to answer further questions about the settlement.