We all know military aircraft with some exceptions are not actually built by the military, but by defense industry partners.

Well, did you know that's also true for the bombs, missiles, and expendable decoys we employ?

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Fighter pilot podcast. I am your host, Vincent ILO, and that's right.

Air combat is conducted with ordinance produced by various defense contractors.

And among the many, Raytheon missiles and defense is a leader and has been for the past century with credit for the design and manufacturing of many of the weapons you likely know by name.

Here today to help discuss Raytheon's currently fielded weapon systems and what's in development are John Thayer and Steve Milano.

Gentlemen, welcome to the show.

Thanks for having us. Thanks for having us on.

Yeah, you bet.

Well, before we dive into today's discussion, let's start with you. Where are you from and what did you do in the military?

Well, I was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, an unusual start that most people haven't heard of, but I got out of there went to the Air Force Academy and then straight into the Air Force from there. I flew mostly at 15s for 22 years, a couple of Pentagon tours in there as well.

And then when I retired out of the Air Force came to work here in Tucson for Raytheon.

Fantastic. All right, Steve, how about you?

I was born and raised in South Jersey in a 500 acre cornfield. So it's similarly unlikely start at the air in Jersey.

Join the Army straight out of high school served 10 years in the Army, mostly in air defense tracking folks like yourself and Clyde on radar systems before joining Raytheon direct out of there.

Been here with Raytheon missiles and defense for about 15 years now.

Awesome. All right, Clyde. So what are some of Raytheon's greatest hits that fighter pilot podcast listeners may recognize?

Well, being one of the biggest weapon manufacturers, there are quite a few of them out there. So obviously the AMRAM missile advanced medium range air air missile.

The A9X is one of our current franchise programs. We have the JSA joint standoff weapon.

Paveway has been around forever. Tomahawk likewise has been around for a long time and lots of new things coming down the pipe as well that will have some recognizable names.

Yeah, that's part of what we want to talk about today to give listeners an idea what you guys are working on.

So the AMRAM, as you stated, the M120 has been the standard for air dominance for decades. Can you talk a bit about why it's still the go to missile today?

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