Raytheon is the fifth-largest defense contractor in America. It is based in Massachusetts (warning, you might not like what follows, since it contributes to Democrats as well as Republicans, but dead American soldiers know no party). In FY2004 Raytheon received more than $8.5B in defense contracts. The "Global War on Terror" has been very good to Raytheon, as one of its Vice Presidents, Tom Culligan, noted in 2002:

we are pleased with the results of the work done by the House and Senate conferees... you see Raytheon’s brand name everywhere – from tanks and rifles to ships, aircraft and UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles]

Raytheon also makes two of the Republican's favorite toys, the Patriot Missile Defense system and the GBU-28 "Bunker Buster" bomb.

Since 2000 Raytheon has pumped more than $3M in soft money into American politics, making its contributions, as well as its contracts, fifth among American defense contractors. It is also an active participant in the revolving door culture, hiring some names you might heard before:

The Board

John Deutch was once of Clinton's CIA Directors. You might recall he got into some trouble for keeping classified information on his laptop computers. Clinton pardoned him on his last day in office.

Barry McCaffrey was also in Clinton's Administration, working as "Drug Czar."

Warren Rudman is a former Republican Senator from New Hampshire, a centrist who would have very little in common with today's Republicans.

Anthony Zinni was part of Bush's Administration before he argued against the War in Iraq.

Lobbyists

Robert Livingstone followed Newt Gingrich as Speaker of the House. He resigned after Larry Flynt exposed his own extramarital affairs during the Clinton impeachment.

Dale Bumpers, a Democratic former Governor (Arkansas) and Congress-critter lobbies for them too.

So, what is the actual story? Most of it can be seen just by following the link above, but I'll lay it out.

Rafael, Israel's defense tech company, makes "Trophy," a system to protect vehicles from RPG and anti-tank missiles. It works. It scans the area around the vehicle and automatically launches in response to an attack. Israel has tested it against practically every RPG and guided anti-tank missile in existence. A joint Army-Navy test program looked at six different "Active Protection Systems," and declared the Trophy "the best candidate," "the most technically advanced," and "the most technically mature system." An official involved in the tests said

worked in every case. The only anomaly was that in one test, the Trophy round hit the RPG’s tail instead of its head. But according to our test criteria, the system was 30 for 30."

So why not buy this incredible system? Because the Pentagon is afraid if they buy something that actually works, it might interfere with their development of their $200B "Future Combat System." You see, you don't need a "Future Combat System" if a present one works really really well.

The Army set up its own technical team to test Trophy against Raytheon's "Quick Kill," a system that only existed in drawings. There were 21 people on the team. NINE WERE RAYTHEON EMPLOYEES. Guess which system won? Go ahead, guess, do you think it was the system that exists and works, or the one that might not exist for five years and hasn't even been built, much less tested. RIGHT, Raytheon's hypothetical system won.

Congress got into the game and held hearings. As you can see from this video, the Pentagon handled the problem in its usual manner, by lying. It testified both systems would be ready at the same time, even though "Quick Kill" is running about five years behind and does not yet exist.

The Army says "Quick Kill" "will best protect Soldiers against current and rapidly emerging threats." But not for another five years. How many Americans will die in the meantime?

Sargeant Joshua Allen Johnson,of Richford, Vermont, died six hours after his Humvee was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.

First Lieutenant Noah Harris and Corporal William A. Long were killed when their vehicle was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.

Specialist Christopher Merchant, of Hardwick, Vermont, was killed by a rocket propelled grenade.

Pfc. Raymond J. Faulstich Jr. was killed when his convoy was attacked with rocket propelled grenades.

Capt. Andrew R. Houghton was killed when his vehicle was attacked with a rocket propelled grenade.

Sgt. David M. Heath was killed when his unit was attacked by insurgents using rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire.

Private Kevin A. Cuming was killed when his vehicle was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.

Staff Sergeant Donald A. Davis died from wounds suffered when his vehicle was attacked with a rocket propelled grenade.

Sgt. William Bushnell was killed when his vehicle was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.

Staff Sergeant Marlon Harper was killed when his vehicle was attacked with small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades.

Sgt. Joshua A. Johnson was killed when his vehicle was hit with a rocket propelled grenade.

Staff Sergeant John A. Lawton was killed when his convoy was taken under attack with rocket propelled grenades.

Staff Sergeant Marvin Lee Trost III was killed when his vehicle was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.

Pvt. Corey P. Depew was killed when his vehicle was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.

Specialist Peter G. Enos was killed when his vehicle was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.