Raytheon Technologies to move HQ from Massachusetts to Northern Virginia

Raytheon Technologies will move its headquarters from Boston's suburbs to Washington, D.C.'s this fall, putting all of the five largest defense companies in National Capital Region.

The offices will be in the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington and within sight of the Pentagon.

“The location increases agility in supporting U.S. government and commercial customers and serves to reinforce partnerships that will progress innovative technologies to advance the industry,” the company said in a statement. “Washington, D.C., serves as a convenient travel hub for the company’s global customers and employees.”

Defense executives have long cited access to decision makers as a reason to be in the Washington region. 

Last month, Boeing last month announced it would move its own headquarters from Chicago to Arlington. Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics are both headquartered in Northern Virginia, while Lockheed Martin is based in Bethesda, Maryland, another D.C. suburb.

"With four of the top five major U.S. aerospace and defense leaders now based in Virginia, this decision [by Raytheon Technologies] to headquarter in Arlington demonstrates that the Commonwealth is the best destination for the aerospace and defense community," Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a statement.

The move to Arlington is the latest change by CEO Greg Hayes to reorganize the firm since Raytheon's merger with United Technologies in 2020. Hayes was previously CEO of then-Connecticut-based UTC.

Raytheon has been based in Massachusetts since its founding a century ago. The company still has a robust presence in the Bay State, where it has numerous facilities. The company’s intelligence and space business is already based in Rosslyn, the location of the new corporate headquarters.