Improving customer service:
The team’s integrated approach gives more opportunities for communication
With a new team, Raytheon strengthens its push into sustainment
The Aftermarket Sustainment & Services team aims to keep products out in the field in operation
Joe DeAntona has seen sustainment from two sides of the defense industry.
For 30 years, he served in the U.S. Army, working in air defense artillery and seeing firsthand the need to keep the Patriot air and missile defense system and AN/TPY-2 radar up and running.
When he left the Army and joined Raytheon in 2014, DeAntona brought ideas on how the business could provide sustainment services faster, more cost-effectively and closer to where products are deployed.
“The challenge in the global market is that sustainment and procurement are two different products,” said DeAntona, vice president of Requirements & Capabilities for Land & Air Defense Systems at Raytheon, an RTX business. “Customer budget for capability acquisition is different than customer budget for sustainment.”
Now, Raytheon is launching its Aftermarket Sustainment & Services team – a group focused specifically on how the business captures and manages the aftermarket segment. The approach reflects the sustainment model from RTX’s commercial aviation businesses.
“Operations and maintenance are a big market to capture,” said Kevin McCarthy, associate director of sales and business development for Land & Air Defense Systems at Raytheon. “Our job is to add value.”
Service through sustainment
Raytheon’s new Aftermarket Sustainment & Services team has several goals:
Acquiring new business:
The strategy opens new markets for RTX to compete for contracts
Maintaining trust with partners:
Sustainment services keep RTX products operational with minimal downtime
Adding value to business:
Product development considers sustainment earlier in the process
Raytheon provides sustainment services, but historically it has done so on a product-by-product basis. The new team, by contrast, is introducing sustainment early in the product development and acquisition process, making it a routine part of how Raytheon does business.
“Sustainment helps us make sure our systems are ready for our customers, wherever and whenever they need them,” DeAntona said. “When we talk about our purpose to deliver for all of those who defend all of us, this is exactly the kind of thing we mean.”
While sustainment contracts are generally smaller than the multibillion-dollar awards that move markets and make headlines, they do provide steady revenue in the long term.
“Sustainment is often an afterthought, but it is so important,” DeAntona said. “It is the biggest discriminator on the battlefield. The force that sustains on the battlefield will win.”
One such ground-based air defense product benefiting from localized sustainment is the NASAMS system, a medium-range air-defense system codeveloped by Raytheon and Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.
“The feedback has been very positive,” DeAntona said.
Through their use in the war in Ukraine, ground-based air defense systems have shown that aftermarket sustainment efforts are critical to readiness, said Tony Walters, director of sales and business development for Land & Air Defense Systems at Raytheon.
In one example, he said, a Raytheon team has provided tele-maintenance support for the NASAMS system in Ukraine and has helped get fully mission-capable spares where they are needed.
Standing up the Aftermarket Sustainment & Services team completely “will take some time,” DeAntona said, “but we are well past the proposal stage and into the ‘let’s get this done’ phase.”
The potential to boost revenue streams, increase customer satisfaction and improve probability of winning future pursuits is there for the taking, McCarthy said.
“If a platform has our tech on it,” he said, “it’s an interest for us.”
“Sustainment is often an afterthought, but it is so important. It is the biggest discriminator on the battlefield. The force that sustains on the battlefield will win.”
Joe DeAntona | Vice President of Requirements & Capabilities for Land & Air Defense Systems | Raytheon
