5 ways that Raytheon UK’s technology is helping shape the future

A lot of tech coverage tends to focus on stuff that’s consumer facing: video games, apps, AI chatbots. But those categories tend to miss out on the actual cutting edge of science. The sci-fi projects of an engineer’s dream are what companies like Raytheon UK work on: projects so high-level, they can’t always discuss the specifics. What they can talk about are some pretty cool programs that are helping build the world of tomorrow. Here’s a look at some of these key industries, including comments from employees on what it’s like to work there. (Although to protect their engineers’ and customers’ identities, last names have been left out.) Here are some of the futuristic areas where Raytheon UK is leading the way:

Raytheon UK is building the tech for in-air ISR (Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance): its team recently passed a critical design review on a £110 million contract to expand and upgrade the Royal Air Force Shadow aircraft fleet. But as futurists like to say, the real change occurs when smaller, less-sexy tech becomes common. During the COVID pandemic, airlines began to take a closer look at their air quality onboard flights. We bet you didn’t know that a Raytheon Technologies subsidiary makes the HEPA air filters that remove 99.97% of particles, including viruses, from cabins. Or that 66 percent of the world’s airspace relies on their tech, thanks to products like Skyler, a low-altitude radar system that gives high-resolution data for aircraft controllers and weather forecasters. Data engineering provides vital insight into many processes, for example, manufacturing data is analysed using Power BI to optimise processes in manufacturing factories — the exact type of real-world work that makes the futuristic stuff possible.

Nick, a data scientist at Raytheon UK, has a background in cyber security. His work, he says, is about applying algorithmic methods to large data sets to build models. “The data that we use can come from satellites in orbit, it can come from drones, it can come from cameras on the ground.” These machine learning techniques have countless applications. As industries like agriculture, energy, and transportation adopt increasingly complex digital infrastructures, it becomes even more important to build resilience against bad actors. Raytheon UK play their role in defending critical national infrastructure in these sectors, whether they require AI platforms to analyse security threats or software applications to process data and gain insights.

Only a few companies can say they’re truly working in the final frontier. Raytheon Technologies have been there since the beginning: its tech is what beamed Neil Armstrong’s words back from the moon. Its Space & Airborne division stays on the cutting edge of discovery. Want to set up a missile detection system in orbit? Need to connect a constellation of satellites? Raytheon Technologies is the company you talk to. Some of their latest work involves research into cleaning up space debris, which will allow low-earth-orbit satellites to run longer, with less risk of collision. Since these satellites travel at speeds of 17,400 mph at 400km orbit, it’s a crucial step for developing our space technology.

Raytheon UK is also one of the Ministry of Defence’s biggest partners for transforming the training environment members of the services use. When it comes to synthetic training it makes sense, given the high-tech nature of the modern military, that a tech-facing company would be the experts for the job. Raytheon UK deliver large training transformation projects to conduct training needs assessments, generate modern and compelling courseware, and integrate that with any physical training apparatus to ensure an efficient, positive, and measurable experience for the instructors and the students.

Raytheon UK is at the cutting edge of software development and delivery, providing mission critical applications for a wide range of customers. The applications are deployed in a variety of virtualised private cloud and public cloud environments, with highly automated Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery pipelines.

Their applications work at scale and in the most demanding of environments. Emily, a software engineer, says, “I don’t believe that everybody that could do this job knows that they’re capable of it, simply because I didn’t.” If you’re curious about joining the team at Raytheon UK, take one of their Cyber, Space & Training challenges here. If you’ve got what it takes, you, too, could help build the futuristic tech of tomorrow.