Raytheon Awarded $21 Million Contract for Navy F/A-18 Advanced Infrared Targeting Systems.

LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 15, 1998 -- Raytheon Systems Company, a unit of Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTNA, RTNB), has been awarded a $21 million engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) contract by The Boeing Company for the Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infra-Red (ATFLIR) system for the U.S. Navy's F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet.

The contract was awarded by Boeing's McDonnell Aircraft and Missile Systems group. The ATFLIR is the baseline infrared system for the F/A-18 E/F, which will also be deployed on earlier model F/A-18s. The contract calls for Raytheon to begin delivering EMD systems in mid-1999 for qualification and flight testing.

The contract includes options for the first two years of low-rate initial production (24 units for the first and 33 for the second). Initial operational capability is planned for May 2002. The program is potentially worth more than $900 million over its life and is expected to produce 574 shipsets (or units).

The Raytheon pod features third generation mid-wave infrared (MWIR) targeting and navigation systems. The targeting FLIR uses the same 640 x 480 staring focal plane technology that Raytheon has incorporated in the U. S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey. The navigation FLIR and other key subsystems, including the pod adapter, roll drive, and pod electronics housing, will be provided by Raytheon's teammate GEC Marconi.

In addition to the FLIRs, the system includes an electro-optical (EO) sensor, laser rangefinder and target designator, and a laser spot tracker. The navigation and targeting FLIR functions on today's F/A-18s are provided by two separate pods on opposite sides of the aircraft. In the ATFLIR, the navigation FLIR function has been integrated into the adapter that connects the pod to the aircraft.

"The ATFLIR will significantly extend target detection and recognition range for Hornet aircrews," said Dave Welp, executive vice president and general manager of the Sensors and Electronic Systems segment, "which will contribute to the operational effectiveness and survivability of the aircraft into the 21st century."

In 1996, a Raytheon prototype third generation FLIR was integrated into a targeting pod and installed in an A-3 aircraft's nose for a company-funded flight test program that continued into 1997. Flight test imagery, recorded from a variety of altitudes and stand-off slant ranges, demonstrated a three to four times improvement in target detection and recognition range when compared to current first generation systems.

The ATFLIR will also provide greater reliability than today's infrared systems while being easier to maintain.

The long range performance provided by this technology will enable F/A-18 aircrews to deliver air-to-ground weapons from beyond the range of antiaircraft artillery and many surface-to-air missiles.

In addition to the MWIR systems for the F/A-18 Hornet and MV-22 Osprey, Raytheon is also developing systems for U.S. Navy attack submarines and the DoD's Global Hawk High Altitude Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle program.

Raytheon Company, based in Lexington, Mass., is a global technology leader with worldwide sales of more than US$20 billion and more than 118,000 employees. The company provides state-of-the-art 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.

Note to editors: The work is being performed by Raytheon's Sensors and Electronic Systems business segment based in El Segundo, Calif.

CONTACT: Raytheon Systems Company

Jim Knotts, 310/616-1022

[e-mail]

http://www.raytheon.com