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Raytheon: Saudi Prowess in Supplying Defense Industries Globally

Tom Laliberty, President of Land Warfare and Air Defense at Raytheon (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Tom Laliberty, President of Land Warfare and Air Defense at Raytheon (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Raytheon: Saudi Prowess in Supplying Defense Industries Globally

Tom Laliberty, President of Land Warfare and Air Defense at Raytheon (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Tom Laliberty, President of Land Warfare and Air Defense at Raytheon (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Tom Laliberty, President of Land Warfare and Air Defense at Raytheon, unveiled that the company was collaborating with the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces to explore the potential of introducing new capabilities within the Kingdom, as part of its plans to act as a reliable partner for the Air Defense Forces, as well as its continuous initiatives to modernize and sustain the Patriot air and missile defense system.

These capabilities could include the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) and the Fixed Site-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated Defeat System (FS-LIDS).

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Laliberty said that Raytheon was looking forward to integrating these capabilities with the existing Patriot systems.

He pointed to long-range concepts available in the Patriot system, medium-range systems with the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), in addition to short-range systems for countering unmanned aircraft such as the Fixed Site-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated Defeat System (LIDS).

“We seek to provide integration through all of these,” he underlined, adding that his company was working with the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces on these types of concepts.

- A trusted partner

As part of its plans in Saudi Arabia, Raytheon’s priorities revolve around continuing to serve as a reliable partner for the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces, and to modernize and maintain the Patriot air and missile defense system, Laliberty remarked.

He stressed his company’s ongoing participation in Saudi Arabia’s plans to localize the military industries sector, referring to the announcement of the manufacture of major parts of the enhanced guidance missiles for the advanced Patriot system, during the works of the World Defense Show in Riyadh last year.

- Localization of the military industry

Regarding the factors that help Saudi Arabia to localize the industry, Laliberty emphasized the importance of Vision 2030, which he said opened the way for a long-term plan that focuses on a wide range of industrial sectors.

“The Kingdom put in place an infrastructure to achieve this vision. For example, the General Authority for Military Industries is one of the agencies that we work closely with to provide opportunities for localization,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Laliberty noted that Raytheon places great importance on resources, as well as companies that possess technical capabilities within their existing operations or wish to invest in capital and knowledge transfer to develop competences in the country.

“There is no doubt that leadership, commitment and desire will ultimately lead to the success of this work,” he stated.

- The Jeddah Factory and the Patriot System

According to Laliberty, the dedicated factory in Jeddah for the local production of Prime Power Units (PPUs) used to power Raytheon’s AN/TPY-2 missile defense radar, which was inaugurated in cooperation with the Zahid Industries, would be a global supplier for Raytheon, not only for Saudi Arabia, stressing that the country has extensive capabilities to become part of the supply chain for defense industries.

“Our experience so far with Zahid Industries in the manufacture of main power units is very positive, as they will work on manufacturing a product that will not only be used in Saudi Arabia, but in our global supply chain,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

- Threats to the region

In light of the regional threats observed over the past years, , Raytheon’s senior executive pointed to the “opponent’s use of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, as well as a large number of drones or unmanned systems”, adding that Saudi Arabia possesses the THAAD system, which provides the outer layer of defense for long-range ballistic missiles, in addition to the Patriot missile system, which is a combination of air and missile defense capabilities to counter tactical ballistic missiles, all types of hostile aircraft, cruise missiles, and large drones.

He added that Raytheon has the advanced national surface-to-air missile system (NASAMS), which is characterized by its ability to confront cruise missiles, aircraft and large drones, in addition to the Fixed Site-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated Defeat System (LIDS).

“The ability of commanders on the battlefield to detect threats as quickly as possible gives them the greatest amount of time to identify the threats and the means to counter them,” the president of Land Warfare and Air Defense at Raytheon told Asharq Al-Awsat.

- Artificial Intelligence

Asked about artificial intelligence, Laliberty replied that it was an industry that had been around for decades. He explained that some Raytheon products have AI algorithms, and are often designed for a specific purpose.

“I think this is where the future lies, where you use AI as a true decision-making assistant to better help commanders organize battles,” he remarked.

- Riyadh’s World Defense Show

Laliberty confirmed that Raytheon would participate in the World Defense Show next year, through the new brand RTX, which was recently announced through its three subsidiaries, Raytheon, Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney.

“We are looking forward to participating in the exhibition, as we had a wide turnout last year,” he stated.

Regarding coordination between the GCC countries in defense systems, Laliberty said that it was great to see the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council having a dialogue about the systems and capabilities that they need.

He added, however, that it was in the Gulf Sates’ interests not to focus on interoperability, the concept of exchanging systems when needed, which can only happen if countries had the same systems.

He concluded by saying: “There is no doubt that we see strong cooperation between the Gulf countries today, and I believe that there is an urgent need for that.”

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Interviews

Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
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Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich has told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US does not plan to withdraw its forces from Syria.

The US is committed to “the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with,” he said.

Here is the full text of the interview.

Question: Mr. Goldrich, thank you so much for taking the time to sit with us today. I know you are leaving your post soon. How do you assess the accomplishments and challenges remaining?

Answer: Thank you very much for the chance to talk with you today. I've been in this position for three years, and so at the end of three years, I can see that there's a lot that we accomplished and a lot that we have left to do. But at the beginning of a time I was here, we had just completed a review of our Syria policy, and we saw that we needed to focus on reducing suffering for the people in Syria. We needed to reduce violence. We needed to hold the regime accountable for things that are done and most importantly, from the US perspective, we needed to keep ISIS from reemerging as a threat to our country and to other countries. At the same time, we also realized that there wouldn't be a solution to the crisis until there was a political process under resolution 2254, so in each of these areas, we've seen both progress and challenges, but of course, on ISIS, we have prevented the reemergence of the threat from northeast Syria, and we've helped deal with people that needed to be repatriated out of the prisons, and we dealt with displaced people in al-Hol to reduce the numbers there. We helped provide for stabilization in those parts of Syria.

Question: I want to talk a little bit about the ISIS situation now that the US troops are still there, do you envision a timeline where they will be withdrawn? Because there were some reports in the press that there is a plan from the Biden administration to withdraw.

Answer: Yeah. So right now, our focus is on the mission that we have there to keep ISIS from reemerging. So I know there have been reports, but I want to make clear that we remain committed to the role that we play in that part of Syria, to the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with, and to the need to prevent that threat from reemerging.

Question: So you can assure people who are saying that you might withdraw, that you are remaining for the time being?

Answer: Yes, and that we remain committed to this mission which needs to continue to be pursued.

Question: You also mentioned the importance of humanitarian aid. The US has been leading on this. Are you satisfied with where you are today on the humanitarian front in Syria?

Answer: We remain committed to the role that we play to provide for humanitarian assistance in Syria. Of the money that was pledged in Brussels, we pledged $593 million just this past spring, and we overall, since the beginning of the conflict, have provided $18 billion both to help the Syrians who are inside of Syria and to help the refugees who are in surrounding countries. And so we remain committed to providing that assistance, and we remain keenly aware that 90% of Syrians are living in poverty right now, and that there's been suffering there. We're doing everything we can to reduce the suffering, but I think where we would really like to be is where there's a larger solution to the whole crisis, so Syrian people someday will be able to provide again for themselves and not need this assistance.

Question: And that's a perfect key to my next question. Solution in Syria. you are aware that the countries in the region are opening up to Assad again, and you also have the EU signaling overture to the Syrian regime and Assad. How do you deal with that?

Answer: For the United States, our policy continues to be that we will not normalize with the regime in Syria until there's been authentic and enduring progress on the goals of resolution 2254, until the human rights of the Syrian people are respected and until they have the civil and human rights that they deserve. We know other countries have engaged with the regime. When those engagements happen, we don't support them, but we remind the countries that are engaged that they should be using their engagements to push forward on the shared international goals under 2254, and that whatever it is that they're doing should be for the sake of improving the situation of the Syrian people.

Question: Let's say that all of the countries decided to talk to Assad, aren’t you worried that the US will be alienated in the process?

Answer: The US will remain true to our own principles and our own policies and our own laws, and the path for the regime in Syria to change its relationship with us is very clear, if they change the behaviors that led to the laws that we have and to the policies that we have, if those behaviors change and the circumstances inside of Syria change, then it's possible to have a different kind of relationship, but that's where it has to start.

Question: My last question to you before you leave, if you have to pick one thing that you need to do in Syria today, what is it that you would like to see happening today?

Answer: So there are a number of things, I think that will always be left and that there are things that we will try to do, to try to make them happen. We want to hold people accountable in Syria for things that have happened. So even today, we observed something called the International Day for victims of enforced disappearances, there are people that are missing, and we're trying to draw attention to the need to account for the missing people. So our step today was to sanction a number of officials who were responsible for enforced disappearances, but we also created something called the independent institution for missing persons, and that helps the families, in the non-political way, get information on what's happened. So I'd like to see some peace for the families of the missing people. I'd like to see the beginning of a political process, there hasn't been a meeting of the constitutional committee in two years, and I think that's because the regime has not been cooperating in political process steps. So we need to change that situation. And I would, of course, like it's important to see the continuation of the things that we were talking about, so keeping ISIS from reemerging and maintaining assistance as necessary in the humanitarian sphere. So all these things, some of them are ongoing, and some of them remain to be achieved. But the Syrian people deserve all aspects of our policy to be fulfilled and for them to be able to return to a normal life.