RTX (Raytheon) Internships 2027: Programs, Pay and How to Apply

RTX runs real, live internship and co-op postings across its three business units right now, and ApplyBolt's board currently shows dozens of them for Summer 2027 and Fall 2026, from software and systems engineering to manufacturing and program management. Most of those postings still say "Raytheon" in the title, because Raytheon is one of RTX's operating businesses, not a separate company you need to search for on top of RTX itself.

If the name switch confused you, you're not alone. The company was Raytheon Technologies until 2023, and before that it didn't exist at all as a combined entity. Here's what actually changed, what the internships involve, and what the postings on our board say about pay.

RTX's three business units

Raytheon vs RTX: what actually changed

RTX formed in 2020 when Raytheon Company merged with the aerospace division of United Technologies Corporation. The combined company operated as Raytheon Technologies Corporation until 2023, when it rebranded to simply RTX Corporation. Raytheon didn't disappear. It became one of the three operating businesses inside RTX, alongside Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney, which is why job titles still read "Raytheon Electrical Engineering Intern" even though the parent company's stock ticker and public name are RTX. RTX is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, trades on the NYSE under RTX, and reported roughly $88.6 billion in revenue with about 180,000 employees in 2025, making it one of the largest aerospace and defense employers in the country. It's a component of the S&P 100 and S&P 500, and Christopher Calio has served as CEO and chairman since 2024. For an intern, the practical takeaway is that Raytheon on a job posting isn't a smaller or separate company from RTX, it's the specific business unit you'd be working inside.

How the internship program works

RTX's own careers site describes its internship and co-op programs as an "experiential learning opportunity" where students work on real projects, and states that many positions carry the chance to convert to full-time employment after graduation. In practice, postings run across a wide range of tracks: software engineering, systems engineering, manufacturing engineering, program management, validation and test, data analytics and more, spread across dozens of US sites including Tucson, Cedar Rapids, McKinney, Andover and East Hartford. RTX also partners with individual universities on deeper pipelines. Virginia Tech's Hume Center, for example, runs an RTX Fellowship where selected students work part-time during the school year for a stipend and get a guaranteed summer internship in return, though that program requires US citizenship and clearance eligibility and runs on its own separate application track.

What an RTX internship pays

RTX hasn't published one company-wide intern rate, but individual postings on our board list pay bands directly, since RTX discloses them the way pay-transparency laws require in states like Colorado and New York. Standard summer intern roles we're currently tracking list annualized ranges commonly around $37,000 to $82,000, while more specialized tracks like program management run higher, into six figures annualized. Those are full-year-equivalent bands used for compliance, not a literal annual intern salary, and the real hourly rate depends on role, level and site. Check the specific posting for the number that applies to you.

Do you need a security clearance?

It depends on the role and the business unit. A meaningful share of Raytheon-branded defense postings, especially anything touching radar, missiles or classified programs, ask about US citizenship and clearance eligibility even when a clearance isn't required on day one. Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney postings skew more commercial and are more likely to be open without clearance requirements, though this varies by program. Read each posting's requirements section rather than assuming your citizenship status rules you in or out across the whole company.

For another major defense contractor's internship rules, see our General Dynamics internships guide, or compare RTX against a newer, privately held defense-tech company in our Anduril internships guide. If engineering internships broadly are what you're after, browse 2027 hardware engineering internships.