INTERVIEW-Raytheon CEO sees US economic recovery in 2010

WASHINGTON, July 7 (Reuters) - William Swanson, chief executive of defense company Raytheon Co (RTN.N), the world's largest missile maker, said on Tuesday he did not expect the U.S. economy to begin recovering until 2010.

"My prediction was that it was going to be 2010 before things got better. I still feel that way," Swanson told Reuters in a telephone interview. He said the economy was still absorbing the housing crisis and the automobile industry's woes, as well as high unemployment rates.

Swanson said he was pleased with Raytheon's portfolio and growth in recent years, and the company was ready to expand in areas such as cybersecurity, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and smaller satellites, depending on the U.S. government's priorities.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

((andrea.shalal-esa@thomsonreuters.com; + 1 202 354 5807; Reuters Messaging: andrea.shalal-esa.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: RAYTHEON/

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