Brazil Pact Latest Clinton Success for U.S. Firms Abroad : Industry: White House lobbying helped missile builder win a $1-billion rain forest project.
Brazil’s selection of defense giant Raytheon Co. to build a $1-billion environmental surveillance system for the Amazon rain forest is being hailed as another victory for the Clinton Administration and a model of U.S. defense-conversion efforts.
Raytheon’s system will combine satellite imagery, ground sensors and air traffic control radar to help the Brazilian government monitor the vast Amazon Basin--an area half the size of the United States.
The system, which is expected to be operational by the end of the decade, is designed to provide early evidence of deforestation, wildlife destruction, illegal mining and drug trafficking, Raytheon said.
Raytheon, a Lexington, Mass.-based concern perhaps best known for building the Patriot missiles used in the Persian Gulf War, is the latest U.S. company to secure a big foreign contract with the help of lobbying by senior White House officials, including the President.
The award last week came only weeks after Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown had led a group of two dozen U.S. business executives on a trip to South America in an effort to drum up sales. Clinton followed their visit with a letter to the Brazilian government, urging them to choose Raytheon over Thomson-CSF of France.
“Once again, it demonstrates the seriousness of purpose we have in standing shoulder to shoulder with American business and protecting the commercial interests of the United States,” Brown said.
Earlier this year, Boeing Co. and McDonnell Douglas Corp. were chosen by Saudi Arabia to divide a $6-billion order for new jetliners, and the Saudis later chose AT&T; Corp. to build a $4-billion telecommunications system.
The Amazon contract also becomes the largest non-military project for Raytheon, which has been trying to lessen its reliance on shrinking Pentagon spending. Raytheon already operates a variety of commercial lines, including Amana refrigerators and Speed Queen washing machines.
Dennis J. Picard, Raytheon’s chairman and chief executive, said the Brazilian award “represents a major expansion of the company’s capabilities into commercial and international business--converting defense know-how and jobs to commercial and environmental requirements.”
Raytheon’s common stock climbed 62.5 cents to $63.75 a share in New York Stock Exchange composite trading Friday.
