Raytheon Corp. is set to receive $20 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Pentagon for the development of a new high-tech weapon: a hypersonic cruise missile.
The new weapon will be able to travel more than five times the speed of sound, the Boston Globe reports.
Earlier this month company officials purchased the information security company Websense for a total of $1.9 billion in an effort to boost its cyber security selections.
"Today's enterprises are more vulnerable than ever due to the proliferation of cloud computing, mobile devices, and the Internet of things," Raytheon official David Wajsgras said, according to the site.
"Our goal is to provide an integrated defense."
Raytheon Corp., known for its speciality in military and weapons electronics, is in the process of expanding its services to include devices designed to prevent digital attacks.
Although in past years the company has earned notoriety for its engineering of missile systems, its leadership is now looking to provide defense technology to a more diverse set of industries outside of the military realm. These include healthcare, finance and smaller-scale businesses.
Now, with the acquisition of Websense, Raytheon Corp. officials will be able to use software files and databases to protect the flow of information on digital devices.
"The market for advanced cyber solutions that protect and defend global industry and infrastructure is rapidly growing due to the sophisticated threats posed by well-funded, nation-state adversaries and criminal networks. As the business enterprise evolves to meet the networked demands of today's mobile and cloud economy, these threats will grow in size and scale," said Thomas A. Kennedy, Raytheon Company Chairman and CEO, according to the company's press release.
