TUCSON, Ariz., Aug. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Raytheon Company
(NYSE:RTN) has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Navy for engineering and
manufacturing to continue development of the STANDARD Missile-3 (SM-3) leading
to sea-based missile defense deployment. The value of this award is for $881.4
million during the next three years.
"This is a very significant contract for Raytheon as a leader in missile
defense," said Louise Francesconi, president of Raytheon's Missile Systems
business, which designs and produces SM-3. "The success of the SM-3 program is
a credit to the Missile Defense Agency, the Navy and the entire SM-3 team.
The flexibility for rapid fleet introduction is due to the foresight of our
customers and our team members who took manufacturing and producibility issues
into account from the very beginning of the program."
The program will leverage the STANDARD Missile's legacy of success and the
Raytheon's state-of-the-art kill vehicle manufacturing facility in Tucson in
which the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle is built and integrated. "This
combination will enable a very smooth transition into production and a very
affordable capability," Francesconi said.
SM-3 features a third-stage rocket motor, GPS guidance and a kinetic
warhead to intercept and destroy short- and medium-range ballistic missiles in
space. SM-3 is a component of the Missile Defense Agency's Aegis Ballistic
Missile Defense (BMD). The Aegis BMD cruiser, USS Lake Erie, with SM-3
achieved three consecutive "hit-to-kill" intercepts of ballistic missile
targets in 2002.
Raytheon is leading the SM-3 integrated team effort, supported by The
Boeing Company and Alliant Techsystems, which provide major subsystems.
In December 2002, President Bush announced the administration's intention
to deploy missile defense capabilities in 2004-2005. Implementation of the
president's order calls for up to 20 sea-based interceptors employed on
existing Aegis ships in 2005.
In addition to funding engineering activity, this contract will support
the manufacture and testing of the initial five deployment missiles and the
continued cooperative research and development work with Japan. This contract
will also include additional missile quantities for later deployment. Work on
the missiles will be done primarily at Raytheon Missile Systems' facilities in
Tucson, Ariz., and Camden, Ark.
Joining Raytheon Missile Systems, with more than 10,000 employees, in the
SM-3 program integrated team effort are Boeing in Anaheim, Calif; Alliant
Techsystems in Elkton, Md.; Atlantic Research Corp. in Camden, Ark. and
Gainesville, Va.; Pratt & Whitney in San Jose, Calif.; Honeywell in Chandler,
Ariz., and Minneapolis; and Aerojet in Sacramento, Calif.
Raytheon Company is a world leader in missile defense, developing and
producing -- in addition to the SM-3 and the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle and
other kinetic warheads -- the Space Tracking and Surveillance System payload,
the Upgraded Early Warning Radars, the Ground Based Radar-Prototype and the
Sea-based X-Band Radar for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system. In
addition, Raytheon is also developing the Ballistic Missile Defense radar and
the Theater High Altitude Area Defense radar and has continued to evolve the
combat proven Patriot Air and Missile Defense System.
Raytheon Company, with 2002 sales of $16.8 billion, is an industry leader
in defense, government and commercial electronics, space, information
technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft.
With headquarters in Lexington, Mass., Raytheon employs more than 76,000
people worldwide.
Contact:
Sara Hammond
520.794.7810
SOURCE Raytheon Company
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.raytheon.com
CONTACT:
Sara Hammond of Raytheon, +1-520-794-7810
|
