Censorship and Genocide: Raytheon Dine' Facility on the Navajo Nation
The Raytheon Dine' Facility on the Navajo Nation continues to produce missiles for Raytheon, whose missiles are tracked to the murder of children in Palestine for genocide. Indigenous women are now risking their lives, sailing aboard flotillas taking aid to Gaza.
By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Updated Oct. 3, 2025
Raytheon, NAPI, and Nygren’s Dirty Deals
Shí k’é dóó shí dine’é, we must speak with truth. NAPI was created to grow food for our Nation, but its land now houses Raytheon, one of the world’s largest war corporations. The Raytheon Diné Facility sits south of Farmington on NAPI land along Highway 371, in the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry park. Instead of corn, wheat, and potatoes, Raytheon builds missiles and war technology on our sacred land.
These weapons do not stay here. They are shipped overseas and used in today’s wars. The facility supports programs like the Javelin anti-tank missile, widely used in Ukraine against Russian forces, the Patriot missile defense system, deployed in Europe and the Middle East and the AIM-120 AMRAAM, a standard U.S. and NATO air-to-air missile.
And what do we receive in return? A bag of potatoes, some flour, a little cornmeal while Raytheon takes billions in federal contracts and funnels the money into its shareholders, executives, and partners in Washington.
President Buu Nygren calls this “development.” But development does not mean running water for our children, or electricity for our elders, or safe homes for our families. Instead, he funds NAPI to protect Raytheon’s presence, handing us starch for survival while handing outsiders control of our land. This is not sovereignty.
The weapons made on NAPI land are being used in current wars, the profits go to outsiders, the burden falls on us.
“We honor our Diné warriors and all who serve, but we reject corporations like Raytheon that profit from our land and blood. Our fight is with exploitation, not with our children who wear the uniform.”
GBU-28 "Bunker Buster" Bombs: 2,000-pound munitions supplied to Israel in 2023. Designed for underground targets but used in densely populated areas, causing high civilian casualties. --Amnesty International identified Raytheon, RTX, in a January 2024 Rafah strike killing 95 civilians (42 children).
Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) Kits: Convert unguided bombs into precision-guided ones. -- Amnesty traced U.S.-made JDAMs (RTX-involved) to October 2023 strikes on two Gaza homes, killing 43 civilians (including 19 in one family home south of Wadi Gaza).
R9X "Ninja" Missiles (Hellfire Variant): Blade-equipped for minimal explosion damage, but used on civilians. Documented in November 2023 strikes, severing limbs and killing non-combatants.
The world's second-largest military company, formerly known as Raytheon Technologies. It makes missiles, bombs, components for fighter jets, and other weapon systems used by the Israeli military against Palestinian civilians. Its surveillance technology is also used to monitor the U.S.–Mexico border.
Copyright Brenda Norrell, Censored News.
As a staff reporter at Indian Country Today, I was forbidden to write about, even research, the Raytheon Diné Facility on the Navajo commercial farm, Navajo Agricultural Products Industry, near Shiprock, which produces missile parts for Raytheon, now one of the top profiteers from the genocide in Palestine.
After the newspaper was sold to new owners in New York State, the editors became personally involved, and went to Cuba to cut a deal to sell NAPI produce to Cuba.
They didn't want Cuba to know about the missile production at the farm, Navajo Agricultural Products Industry, where the corn, potatoes and beans grew.
The so-called fair trade deal eventually fell through.
Today, Raytheon's missiles are sold to Israel. Amnesty International has documented that Raytheon's weapons are responsible for the murder of children, and families, in Palestine.
Indigenous women aboard the flotillas are now risking their lives to take humanitarian aid to Gaza. Indigenous women from Colombia and the Amazon were aboard the Sumud Global Flotilla, and were among nearly 500 illegally arrested in international waters. Israel said today it will send those on the flotilla to a violent prison in the Negev desert before deporting them.
A Cree Dene woman is aboard a second flotilla, the Freedom Flotilla near Greece, and sailing beneath the Mohawk Warrior flag, and Anishinaable flag.
It has been 19 years since I was censored, threatened with termination, and fired at Indian Country Today.
Today, the people speak out about the Navajo Nation aiding and abetting war crimes.
Dine' say, "When Raytheon profits from war, it is our soil, our water, and our labor that feed the war machine. Spiritually, this ties the Diné People to bloodshed we did not choose."
"And what do we receive in return? A bag of potatoes, some flour, a little cornmeal while Raytheon takes billions in federal contracts."
Dine' Statement
Raytheon, NAPI, and Nygren’s Dirty Deals
Shí k’é dóó shí dine’é, we must speak with truth. NAPI was created to grow food for our Nation, but its land now houses Raytheon, one of the world’s largest war corporations. The Raytheon Diné Facility sits south of Farmington on NAPI land along Highway 371, in the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry park. Instead of corn, wheat, and potatoes, Raytheon builds missiles and war technology on our sacred land.
These weapons do not stay here. They are shipped overseas and used in today’s wars. The facility supports programs like the Javelin anti-tank missile, widely used in Ukraine against Russian forces, the Patriot missile defense system, deployed in Europe and the Middle East and the AIM-120 AMRAAM, a standard U.S. and NATO air-to-air missile.
These weapons strike tanks, intercept aircraft, and fuel destruction across the globe. When Raytheon profits from war, it is our soil, our water, and our labor that feed the war machine. Spiritually, this ties the Diné People to bloodshed we did not choose.
And what do we receive in return? A bag of potatoes, some flour, a little cornmeal while Raytheon takes billions in federal contracts and funnels the money into its shareholders, executives, and partners in Washington.
The profits do not return to the Diné. They leave us with poverty, contamination, and the shame of being made part of wars against other Indigenous Peoples across the world.
President Buu Nygren calls this “development.” But development does not mean running water for our children, or electricity for our elders, or safe homes for our families. Instead, he funds NAPI to protect Raytheon’s presence, handing us starch for survival while handing outsiders control of our land. This is not sovereignty.
This is surrender. This is betrayal.
The weapons made on NAPI land are being used in current wars, the profits go to outsiders, the burden falls on us.
The Diné deserve clean water, safe homes, real food, and true leadership not weapons factories, not token handouts, and not dirty dealing. We are Diné. We will not trade hózhó for war.
“We honor our Diné warriors and all who serve, but we reject corporations like Raytheon that profit from our land and blood. Our fight is with exploitation, not with our children who wear the uniform.”
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| "We are the Indigenous delegation of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. We gathered in front of the boats of our comrades the Thousand Madleens to send good blessings on their way. From the Great Lakes, to the Ice Cap, to the Sea, Palestine will be free!" --Inuk on Flotilla. |
Italy, Spain, Greece and Turkey send military ships to flotilla after attack
The Sumud Global Flotilla reports that Italy and Spain sent warships to accompany the flotilla after the attacks with explosives and chemicals, and Greece followed. Turkey sent a ship when the lead Family broke down from mechanical failure. Turkey has also sent a warship to accompany the flotilla.
A Turkish warship assisted Global Sumud Flotilla vessel en route to Gaza after it broke down, the flotilla reports.
“Adagio, this is the Turkish warship. Do you copy?”
A veteran sailor said:
Raytheon Weapons Tracked to Murder of Children in Palestine
Raytheon's weapons, now called RTX, were traced to strikes that murdered children and other civilians in Gaza. In one family, 19 people were murdered using RTX weapons. One missile with blades cut off limbs.
Raytheon said, "Raytheon Diné stores and generates parts for 12 missile programs such as the Tomahawk cruise missile, Javelin weapon system, and Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile."
Key RTX Products Traced to Gaza Strikes -- RTX is the world's second-largest weapons manufacturer and a major supplier to Israel via U.S. foreign military aid (over $23 billion since October 2023, much of which funds RTX contracts). Specific products include: Guided Air-to-Surface Missiles: Used on F-16 jets for precision strikes. AFSC reports these have been deployed in Gaza offensives since 2023, targeting civilian infrastructure like hospitals and schools.
GBU-28 "Bunker Buster" Bombs: 2,000-pound munitions supplied to Israel in 2023. Designed for underground targets but used in densely populated areas, causing high civilian casualties. --Amnesty International identified Raytheon, RTX, in a January 2024 Rafah strike killing 95 civilians (42 children).
Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) Kits: Convert unguided bombs into precision-guided ones. -- Amnesty traced U.S.-made JDAMs (RTX-involved) to October 2023 strikes on two Gaza homes, killing 43 civilians (including 19 in one family home south of Wadi Gaza).
R9X "Ninja" Missiles (Hellfire Variant): Blade-equipped for minimal explosion damage, but used on civilians. Documented in November 2023 strikes, severing limbs and killing non-combatants.
Iron Dome Interceptors (Tamir Missiles): Co-produced with Israel's Rafael; U.S. components from RTX. While defensive, misfires have caused Gaza damage (e.g., 2023–2024 incidents killing civilians from falling debris). Protests in 2024–2025 highlighted RTX's role in restocking these amid the war.
Raytheon's Surveillance at the Border
The American Friends Service Committee, Quakers, reports on Raytheon's weapons used on civilians in Palestine, and surveillance at the U.S. border.
Raytheon has been one of the main contractors of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). It was highlighted as one of 14 "giants in the border security business" in a 2019 report by the Transnational Institute and No más Muertes.
Between 2005 and 2021, the company held contracts worth $67.9 million with CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for tracking and monitoring devices, satellites, ground sensors, surveillance and radar systems for maritime drones, and other technologies.
Two Raytheon systems are installed in CBP's Guardian Predator B, a maritime variation of General Atomics' MQ-9 Reaper drone.
Read more: https://investigate.afsc.org/company/rtx
Raytheon's Ongoing Role in Border Surveillance 2024–2025
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol's Air and Marine Operations use Raytheon SeaVue-equipped drones for surveillance, logging thousands of flight hours annually. Raytheon profits from border security contracts, projected to grow from $58.24 billion in 2025 to $95.65 billion by 2032, driven by demand for AI-enhanced radars and drones.
Drones on the southern border
The National Air Security Operations Center in Sierra Vista operates the MQ-9 Predator B unmanned aircraft system from Libby Army Airfield at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. It was established in 2005 as CBP’s first operational unmanned aircraft system site and conducts drone operations along the U.S. southern border in partnership with the Joint Task Force on the southern border. It uses the Raytheon SeaVue maritime surveillance radar." link
About the author
Brenda Norrell has been a news reporter in Indian Country for 43 years, beginning as a reporter at the Navajo Times during the 18 years that she lived on the Navajo Nation. She was a correspondent for Lakota Times, Associated Press and USA Today. After serving as a longtime staff reporter for Indian Country Today, she was censored and fired in 2006. As a result, she created Censored News. Today, 19 years later, without ads or revenues, Censored News is a collective focused on Indigenous Peoples and human rights.
Copyright Brenda Norrell, Censored News.
Content may not be used without written permission, or be used in any way for revenues.
3 comments:
Excellent report. Thanks and good power, courage to all. "From the Great Lakes, to the Ice Cap, to the Sea, Palestine will be free!" Note: The red and white flag of Greenland. And the Inuk of Greenland.
Can I share this with people I am working with in supporting Gaza. One is a descendent of Ukrainian Jews who has traveled there for volunteer work for 3 years till last year.City of Bisbee denied our plea for a cease fire and stopping arms to Israel. Zionists came from Phoenix, Tucson and Sierra Vista declaring the resolution for cease fire was unconstitutional, so Mayor Budge withdrew the resolution allowing both sides to speak. Odd that out of towners had such power over our efforts.
Yes please share this, and all the articles. (Please request reprint right by email if it is to be republished in print at brendanorrell@gmail.com) Otherwise, please share the links. Thanks.
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