Raytheon Promotes COO Thomas Kennedy To CEO As William Swanson Steps Down

(RTTNews) - Defense contractor Raytheon Co. (RTN) announced Wednesday the promotion of Chief Operating Officer Thomas Kennedy to chief executive officer, effective March 31, 2014. Kennedy will succeed long time CEO William Swanson, who will step down from the position after being at the helm since 2003.

"Tom Kennedy is a proven leader with a broad understanding of key technologies, keen customer focus, and a deep understanding of Raytheon's business," Lead Director Admiral Vern Clark said in a statement.

Swanson, age 64, joined the company in 1972 and ran many of its business units before he became the CEO in 2003, chairman in 2004 and served as president from July 2002 to May 2004. Prior to that, he was president of the company, responsible for Raytheon's government and defense operations.

Swanson has agreed to continue to serve as chairman to assist the company in the transition to the new CEO. The company noted that the change in its leadership was undertaken as part of the Board's orderly leadership transition planning process.

"We will be fortunate to have Bill's continued guidance as Chairman of the Board while the Company completes a seamless CEO leadership transition," Clark noted.

The Raytheon Board has also elected Kennedy to serve on the Raytheon Board, effective January 15, 2014.

The incoming CEO Kennedy, age 58, is currently serving as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Raytheon since April 2013. Kennedy previously served as vice president of Raytheon, and president of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS).

Prior to his leadership role at IDS, Kennedy served as vice president for Tactical Airborne Systems within Raytheon's Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) business. He also served as vice president for Mission Systems Integration at SAS.

Kennedy joined Raytheon in 1983 and has held positions of increasing responsibility as a new business leader and program manager for several radar and electronic warfare systems development programs and holds several patents related to those technologies. He was a former captain in the U.S. Air Force.

"Raytheon is well-positioned both domestically and internationally, and with Tom's experience, we are confident that he will lead our Company successfully in this dynamic global business environment," Clark added.

In Wednesday's regular trading session, RTN is currently trading at $91.52, up $0.38 or 0.42% on a volume of 0.12 million shares.