Raytheon's Multi-Sector Oceanic Data Link Declared Operational by FAA.

LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 15, 1999--Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTNA, RTNB) announced that its Multi-Sector Oceanic Data Link (MS-ODL) system has been commissioned by the Federal Aviation Administration at the Oakland, Calif., Oceanic Air Traffic Control Center.

Following several months of rigorous testing, operational shakedown, and controller training, the FAA declared that the system has achieved initial operational capability, extending its current operational role to all seven sectors covering 18.7 million square miles of the Pacific Oceanic Airspace.

The MS-ODL system provides controller-pilot data link communications to suitably equipped aircraft flying over the Pacific Ocean. Michael Hoeffler, vice president of Raytheon Systems Company's Air Traffic Control business area, said, "Communicating via very high frequency or satellite data links with aircraft using digital text messages, as opposed to high frequency radio voice messages, greatly increases the accuracy of controller-to-pilot communications, improving both safety and airspace utilization."

In declaring its acceptance of the system, the FAA commended Raytheon for its "superior performance" in all activities from the conclusion of functional qualification tests through operational test and evaluation, site acceptance tests and in support of the FAA's shakedown activities. As a result, the FAA provided Raytheon with 100 percent of the award fee for this phase of the program.

Raytheon Company, based in Lexington, Mass., is a global technology leader that provides products and services in the areas of commercial and defense electronics, engineering and construction, and business and special mission aircraft. Raytheon has operations throughout the United States and serves customers in more than 80 countries around the world.