Raytheon sponsors the Lady Scouts of America. BAE Programs is studying your toddlers their favourite fairytale tales. And Lockheed Martin funds youngsters’s math and STEM festivals. That is finished with nice fanfare, supposedly to empower and encourage youngsters to pursue their ardour for science. In actuality, although, these firms are trying to launder their pictures and enlist the subsequent era to change into cogs within the military-industrial advanced.
All of the whereas, these organizations’ merchandise are getting used the world over by the USA and Israel to commit warfare crimes – in Iran, Yemen, Palestine, and past – to focus on youngsters.
MintPress explores the murky world of the arms firms coaching youngsters to bomb youngsters.
Normalizing Battle to Children
When many People consider Raytheon (now formally rebranded as RTX Company), they don’t envisage rockets and cruise missiles; they consider math. For many years, the second-largest arms producer on the planet has bankrolled a variety of organizations geared toward getting youngsters enthusiastic about STEM topics.
Since 2009, Raytheon has been the title sponsor of MATHCOUNTS, a non-profit group that gives participating math applications for center faculty college students in each U.S. state, in addition to organizing math competitions to seek out the brightest youngsters in America.
In 2005, Raytheon launched its MathMovesU program, aimed, in its personal phrases, “to encourage center faculty college students to get enthusiastic about math and science.” Along with the supplies offered, it has additionally spent hundreds of thousands on scholarships, grants, and examine awards to 1000’s of scholars, lecturers, and volunteers.
And its MathAlive! touring exhibit guarantees, in reasonably outdated branding, to take math “2theXtreme”. MathAlive! Has additionally traveled to a number of international locations in West Asia, together with Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia – all of them among the many greatest purchasers of Raytheon weapons expertise.
The corporate additionally enjoys a longtime partnership with the Lady Scouts of the USA of America (GSUSA). In 2017, for instance, it launched the GSUSA’s first nationwide pc science program and cyber problem for center and highschool ladies.
“The progress to diversify the STEM workforce must be accelerated… At a time when expertise is remodeling the way in which we stay and work, we are able to – and will – present younger girls a transparent path to taking an lively position on this transformation,” mentioned Thomas A. Kennedy, then-Raytheon CEO; “Working collectively, Raytheon and Lady Scouts will assist ladies construct confidence to see themselves because the robotics engineers, knowledge scientists and cybersecurity professionals who will create a greater tomorrow.”
Raytheon additionally spearheaded the GSUSA’s “Suppose Like a Programmer” venture, which inspires ladies to discover the world of synthetic intelligence and cybersecurity, and developed lots of the programming badges accessible to the scouts.
GSUSA seems pleased with this relationship. Its web site profiles one former scout who now works at Raytheon as successful story and a mannequin to comply with. The article features a step-by-step information and a listing of ideas for these wishing to comply with in her footsteps.
Unsurprisingly, Raytheon additionally works intently with the U.S. navy on these issues, establishing 4 new STEM “facilities of innovation” with the Boys & Ladies Golf equipment of America in Michigan, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., all close to navy bases.
Whereas some is likely to be shocked by the closeness of the connection between a youngsters’s group and an arms producer, it’s price remembering that the scouting motion was initially established by Lieutenant-Common Robert Baden-Powell, as a stepping stone in direction of boys becoming a member of the navy. Baden-Powell was deeply involved that English boys wouldn’t be bodily match sufficient to battle for his or her nation in any upcoming wars, and designed a company that will practice them each bodily and mentally to take action.
Kirsten Bayes from the Marketing campaign Towards the Arms Commerce was unimpressed by Raytheon’s makes an attempt to enhance their picture and to coach the subsequent era of weapons producers. “Our view is that arms firms haven’t any place in faculties or faculties, and will actually not be working with youngsters’s academic charities,” she instructed MintPress, including:
“Faculties and different locations of schooling must be locations the place youngsters study, develop and develop their full potential. They shouldn’t be a recruiting floor the place arms firms whitewash their actions.”
Lockheed Martin U
However Raytheon is much from the one weapons big immediately concentrating on America’s youngsters. Lockheed Martin hosts CYBERQUEST, an annual highschool competitors that encourages youngsters to pursue careers in intelligence and cybersecurity. The 2026 occasion was held in 11 areas throughout the nation, in addition to nearly all over the world. The arms big provides highschool internship applications designed to fast-track America’s brightest younger minds into careers in protection. Yearly, Lockheed Martin hires 1000’s of younger interns, and claims that 60% of those candidates go on to paid work on the firm.
It additionally sponsors “younger minds at work” days, organising hands-on experiments for kids to play with, together with bottle rocket experiments and extra.
Universities are a key recruitment floor. The company spends enormous sums attracting prime expertise, together with internet hosting “Lockheed Martin Day” at greater than a dozen faculties nationwide, the place firm recruiters are allowed on campus to dazzle college students with digital actuality exhibitions, flight simulators, and even touchdown helicopters immediately on school greens.
Lockheed Martin has entered into partnerships with a number of prime faculties. A $1.5 million donation to the College of Texas at Arlington, as an illustration, resulted within the renamed of considered one of their buildings because the Lockheed Martin Profession Growth Heart.
The corporate touts its fame as a protected house for girls and LGBT staff, and is recurrently listed as the most effective employers for inclusivity. One lady the corporate itself profiles is Haley, who, as a woman, dreamed of turning into an inventor. “As a baby,” they write, “Haley clung to a pocket book the place she sketched her concepts and innovations. On the duvet she scribbled, ‘Haley’s Method to Make Life Higher.’ Her finest concept? A self-folding Christmas tree cleverly known as ‘Merry, Shiny and Boxed’ to make cleansing up after the vacations extra environment friendly.” Immediately, that youngster with desires of constructing the world a greater place is a missiles and fireplace management engineer with Lockheed Martin, creating weapons that effectively kill folks all throughout the planet.
Concentrating on Toddlers
Boeing, too, has developed a variety of initiatives geared toward younger youngsters. Their “Engineering is Elementary” program is designed for pre-Okay, kindergarten, elementary and center faculty college students, and, like these from Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, is focussed on funnelling younger minds right into a profession in weapons manufacturing. “Boeing has a strategic group focus to extend trainer effectiveness in math and science and to draw extra college students into STEM-related careers,” an organization consultant mentioned, including,
“Engineering is Elementary supplies lecturers and college students a better understanding of engineering, and it accomplishes that in a enjoyable, interactive manner. Our aim is to curiosity college students in engineering at an early age and enhance the variety of scientists and engineers.”
Aerospace producer BAE Programs, nevertheless, goes even additional. The London-based big that produces jet plane, missiles, howitzers, and warships printed a collection of weird movies that includes each its staff and members of the British Armed Forces studying basic fairytales to youngsters. This included Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Cinderella, and Hansel and Gretel. These got here full with worksheets to assist extraordinarily younger youngsters with their problem-solving abilities.
Studying bedtime tales to infants is simply a part of a wider technique BAE Programs is conducting with a purpose to, in their very own phrases, “enhance our company fame at each an area and nationwide stage.” Different initiatives embrace internet hosting faculty roadshows, robotics festivals, science camps, and local people outreach applications, all geared toward youngsters. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, it additionally stepped in to supply faculties with branded studying supplies for kids as younger as 5.
Bayes appeared appalled on the firm’s actions, stating:
“We’re conscious that BAE Programs claims to spend as a lot as £100m [U.S.$134m] per yr on academic actions. It claims its motives are group primarily based, however we’d say that that is a part of their recruiting technique: in search of to affect younger folks with out presenting the total information of what an arms firm is, and what the results of working for them can be.”
Fairytales and Nightmares
As a lot as these firms try to current themselves neutrally as scientific entities, the truth is that their major companies revolve round producing the {hardware} and weaponry that the USA makes use of to dominate the world.
Prior to now twelve months alone, the USA has bombed seven international locations: Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. And it’s firms like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin that make this sort of extraordinary planetary violence potential.
For instance, on February 28, the USA launched an assault on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Ladies’ Faculty in Minab, Iran. A Tomahawk cruise missile – some of the exact guided weapons on the planet – was launched from a close-by warship and pummelled the constructing, inflicting the varsity to break down in on itself. Quickly after, a second missile hit the varsity’s courtyard, the place determined survivors have been gathering.
The assault was timed exactly for max harm: 10:45am on a faculty day. A minimum of 156 folks have been killed, most of them pupils on the faculty, which neither served any navy objective, nor was positioned close to any navy goal. Over 100 extra have been injured.
The occasion was instantly denounced as a significant warfare crime. However Secretary of Battle Pete Hegseth brushed it off, and later said that, “The one ones that must be fearful proper now are Iranians who suppose they’re going to stay.”
The Tomahawk cruise missile is produced by Raytheon, and subsystems used within the operation have been made by a subsidiary of BAE Programs.
Washington additionally makes use of its primacy in weapons to maintain its allies in energy. Saudi Arabia is by far the U.S.’ prime arms buyer, buying a whole lot of billions of {dollars} price of hi-tech weaponry, which it instantly makes use of in opposition to Yemen, and to suppress home dissent.
Riyadh has pursued a genocidal assault on civilian infrastructure in Yemen, together with in opposition to farms, sewage, and water amenities, inflicting the deaths of a whole lot of 1000’s of civilians. In August 2018, it dropped a 227 kg (500lb) laser-guided bomb on a faculty bus in Dhahyan, northern Yemen. Fragments discovered on the scene recognized the bomb as having been produced by Lockheed Martin. Forty youngsters have been killed within the assault – a removed from unusual incidence in the course of the Saudi-led marketing campaign to topple Ansar Allah from energy.
If Saudi Arabia is Washington’s greatest buyer, then Israel is its prime recipient of welfare. A examine from Brown College discovered that within the two years following the October 7, 2023 assault, the USA spent $21.7 billion on navy help to Israel, together with plane, missiles, and all method of small arms munitions.
Israel has used these weapons to systematically goal youngsters in Gaza and past. A minimum of 97% of colleges within the densely-populated strip have been hit. One of many extra notable examples was the Khadija Ladies’ Faculty in Deir al-Balah, which was focused on July 27, 2024. A Human Rights Watch investigation discovered that Israel dropped no less than two GBU-39 bombs on the varsity – munitions manufactured in the USA by Boeing.
Thus, whereas arms producers learn fairytales to Western youngsters, youngsters the world over are pressured to stay out a really actual nightmare, thanks in no small half to those firms.
Whether or not they stay in the USA or one of many international locations beneath its boot, nevertheless, youngsters all over the place are being focused by these weapons corporations, although in numerous methods. In the USA, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and others have stepped in to bolster cash-strapped schooling departments. Whereas their rhetoric emphasizes empowering youngsters – particularly ladies – to comply with their science desires, their true intent is to launder their reputations as retailers of dying, and to coach up the subsequent era of People to change into keen members of the American warfare machine.
Kids on the opposite aspect of the globe, nevertheless, are given no such illusions, and must stay with the fixed terror that they be these firms’ subsequent victims. This picture, shouldn’t be the one the likes of Raytheon need us to consider once we image their merchandise, and they also spend hundreds of thousands trying to distract us with tales of empowerment and discovery. What a world we stay in, the place weapons firms are coaching youngsters to bomb youngsters.
