TUCSON, Ariz., Oct. 23, 2006 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE:
RTN) has been awarded a $4.1 million contract, with a priced option for an
additional $1.2 million, by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to
demonstrate the suitability of its Vigilant Eagle Airport Protection System
to function in a civilian environment and its ability to protect aircraft
from the threat of shoulder-fired missiles.
Vigilant Eagle provides an invisible dome of protection around airports
or airfields, offering all aircraft -- international and domestic
commercial flights as well as military and private planes -- protection
from terrorist surface-to-air missiles including MANPADS (Man-Portable
Air-Defense System).
Vigilant Eagle aims a focused, precisely steered beam of
electromagnetic energy at a terrorist's missile, diverting the threat away
from the targeted aircraft. Because Vigilant Eagle is ground-based rather
than installed on individual aircraft, it can protect all aircraft inside
an airport area. Vigilant Eagle consists of three interconnected primary
components: a distributed missile detect and track system, a command and
control system and the active electronically scanned array, which is a
billboard-size array of highly efficient antennas linked to solid state
amplifiers that provide the beam that diverts the missile.
"Raytheon's Vigilant Eagle defeats man-portable missiles in seconds
without any alteration to or involvement by the aircraft using the
airport," said Mike Booen, vice president of Directed Energy Weapons at
Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Ariz. "Not only has our Vigilant Eagle
system been proved effective, but it protects all aircraft using an airport
and can be rapidly deployed at a reasonable cost."
Ground-based Vigilant Eagle provides anti-MANPADS protection for a
fraction of the cost of airborne systems being developed. Vigilant Eagle
also has a far lower false alarm rate than other systems and uses proven,
mature technologies.
Raytheon plans to conduct validation activities and implement a unique
interoperability test bed at a site determined by DHS to provide data for
DHS's assessment of Vigilant Eagle's capability to defeat MANPADS. The test
bed is an initial step to implementing counter-MANPADS to protect flights
at airports.
Raytheon's airport security solutions also include a contract with the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to provide a Perimeter Intrusion
Detection System (PIDS) to safeguard the region's four airports: John F.
Kennedy International, Newark Liberty International, LaGuardia, and
Teterboro. The Raytheon-led team will design, develop and deploy the
security system; provide complete infrastructure development; integrate
existing and future access control and intrusion detection systems; and
provide training and maintenance. PIDS is the first large scale, fully
integrated design and build project at any major domestic airport.
Raytheon Company, with 2005 sales of $21.9 billion, is an industry
leader in defense and government electronics, space, information
technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft.
With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 80,000 people
worldwide.
Contact:
Alan D. Fischer
520.794.1211
SOURCE Raytheon Company
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Related links:
http://www.raytheon.com/
CONTACT:
Alan D. Fischer of Raytheon Company,
+1-520-794-1211
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