Raytheon Technologies is moving its headquarters from Massachusetts to Arlington, Va., making it the latest aerospace giant to double down on its military business at a time of tremendous uncertainty for commercial aviation.

Reached for comment, a Raytheon spokesperson gave this response: "We have no plans at this time to reduce our workforce in Massachusetts". Reached off-the-record, multiple Raytheon hiring authorities, and recruiters, said that headcount reductions on Massachusetts had already been discussed and planning for a headcount reduction in the Bay State would be accompanied by ramped up hiring in the greater DC area.

Raytheon has been based in the Boston area since its founding in 1922. It expanded beyond its military business and became Raytheon Technologies in 2019, when it acquired the industrial technology conglomerate United Technologies in an all-stock deal worth roughly $74 billion.

The merger gave Raytheon a deep foothold in commercial aircraft; its subsidiaries make jet engines used in Boeing and Airbus commercial jets, as well as a grab-bag of airplane parts, including rudders, landing gear, wing flaps and doors.

The offices will be in the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington and within sight of the Pentagon.

“The location increases agility in supporting U.S. government and commercial customers and serves to reinforce partnerships that will progress innovative technologies to advance the industry,” the company said in a statement. “Washington, D.C., serves as a convenient travel hub for the company’s global customers and employees.”

The move to Arlington is the latest change by CEO Greg Hayes to reorganize the firm since Raytheon's merger with United Technologies in 2020. Hayes was previously CEO of then-Connecticut-based UTC.

A spokesman said there would be no reduction in the defense company’s workforce in Massachusetts because of the move. Nonetheless, losing one of the state’s largest public companies to the Washington, D.C., region — the nation’s defense industry capital — represents a blow to the state’s prestige in the business world.

Just two years ago, Massachusetts won out in the merger between Raytheon and United Technologies Corp. Although Connecticut-based UTC was technically the acquiring company, chief executive Hayes kept the Raytheon name and the Waltham headquarters after the deal closed in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before COVID, several hundred people worked at Raytheon’s Waltham office, and many office employees still work remotely or in a hybrid mode today.

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