Standard Missile Company Awarded $81 Million Contract for Missile Production.

McLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 19, 1998--

Award Follows $371 Million Contract in January To

Complete AEGIS LEAP Flight Demonstration Program

The U.S. Navy yesterday awarded an $81 million modification to a previously awarded contract to Standard Missile Company, LLC, for production of Standard medium range missiles for the U.S. Navy and the governments of Canada and Japan. Standard Missile Company is owned by Raytheon Company.

Standard missile is an all-weather, ship-launched, medium to long range surface-to-air missile family widely deployed aboard combatant ships of the U.S. and allied navies. It is the U.S. Navy's primary surface-to-air weapon against hostile aircraft and anti-ship cruise missiles. Delivery of the Standard Missile (SM)-2 Block IIIB, the latest medium range variant of Standard missile, to the U.S. Fleet began last fall. Standard Missile is also the baseline for the urgent development of a sea-based tactical ballistic missile defense capability, and a version of Standard missile is being developed as a Land Attack missile for use as a Naval Surface Fire Support weapon.

This contract modification to Standard Missile Company will provide 68 SM-2 Block IIIB missile rounds and 73 ordnance alteration kits to upgrade existing SM-2 Block II and III missiles to the Block IIIB configuration for the U.S. Navy, five Block III rounds for the Government of Japan and 10 Block IIIA rounds for the Government of Canada under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, and various miscellaneous spares and supporting equipment. Work on this contract will be performed in Tucson, Ariz. and Camden Ark., and will be completed by December 2000.

In a separate Navy award made in January, Standard Missile Company received a three-year, $371 million contract to complete the AEGIS Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile (LEAP) Intercept/SM-3 (ALI/SM-3) flight demonstration program.

"This effort to employ the technology of LEAP with the proven Standard Missile directly supports the Navy's commitment to develop and field seaborne theater ballistic missile defenses for U.S. and allied forces," said Chauncey Dewey, president of Standard Missile Company.

The Raytheon LEAP is the most advanced, lightweight, space tested exoatmospheric kinetic kill vehicle in the world. It combines a state-of-the-art imaging infrared seeker, high-density lightweight electronics, and an advanced interferometric fiber optic inertial measuring unit (IMU) fully integrated into a 15-pound vehicle.

This contract award to Standard Missile Company is for the addition of a new guidance system to the proven Standard Missile Block IV airframe for intercepting tactical ballistic missiles in space. The first control test vehicle flight tests will occur this year to prove the aerodynamics of the Block 1V airframe at extremely high altitudes.

Work on this program, which is expected to be completed by March, 2001, will be performed in Tucson, Ariz., Tewksbury and Andover, Mass., and McLean, Va.

Raytheon Company, based in Lexington, Mass., is a global technology leader with worldwide sales of more than $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 90 countries around the world.

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Note to Editors: The Department of Defense originally announced the $371 million contract award for SM-3 AEGIS LEAP on January 9, 1998. This news release provides additional details.

CONTACT: Raytheon

Dave Shea, 703.284.4245