BAE Systems Space Weather Research Facility Wins Top Award.

WASHINGTON -- BAE Systems has received the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) top award for technical achievement.

The agency recognized the company for "outstanding leadership and engineering innovation" in designing, constructing, and activating the Defense Department's High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) instrument, a facility to study the upper atmosphere in Gakona, Alaska.

"The HAARP instrument is critical to the understanding and prediction of space weather for satellite operations at low-earth orbit and is invaluable as a ground-based test bed for (a variety of national security) applications," said Dr. Anthony Tether, director of DARPA.

HAARP, the world's largest and most capable ionospheric research facility, will serve the U.S. scientific and defense communities for the next 30 to 50 years.

"To be recognized for performance excellence with such a prestigious award is humbling and gratifying," said Ramy Shanny, vice president and general manager of BAE Systems' Advanced Technologies group.

As the prime contractor for HAARP, BAE Systems designed and built the facility, operating software, and controls under a series of Office of Naval Research contracts valued at more than $250 million.

DARPA presented the Significant Technical Achievement award at the DARPATech 2007 conference in Anaheim, California. The research station was dedicated June 27 in a ceremony at the Gakona site. Construction of the station was jointly funded by the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and DARPA.

About BAE Systems

BAE Systems is the premier global defense and aerospace company, delivering a full range of products and services for air, land, and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions and customer support services. BAE Systems, with 96,000 employees worldwide, had 2006 sales that exceeded $27 billion on a pro forma basis, assuming BAE Systems had owned Armor Holdings, Inc. for the whole of 2006.