United Technologies aerospace division will officially merge with defense contractor Raytheon to form a new company called Raytheon Technologies Corporation next year. Word of the deal was first reported by The Wall Street Journal this morning.
The deal will see United Technologies, which produces airplane components and is made up of Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney, merge with Raytheon, which manufactures everything from missiles to communications equipment for the military. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020, and doesn’t include two of United Technologies’ subsidiaries, Otis Elevators, and Carrier, which will both be spun off into different companies next year.
The companies say that together, they will be able to “enjoy enhanced resources and financial flexibility to support significant R&D and capital investment” in the coming years. Notably, they say that by collaborating, they’ll be able to work on a range of new advances in hypersonic and missile technologies, connected aircraft and laser weapons, and artificial intelligence — projects that the military is keenly interested in developing further.