TEWKSBURY, Mass., Nov. 20, 2006 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) delivered the first four engineering development models of the Advanced Spectroscopic Portal (ASP) to the Department of Homeland Security Nov. 14, four months after the initial contract award.

"This is a tremendous effort by our Raytheon-led ASP team in a very rapid response to an urgent and critical homeland security need," said Mary Petryszyn, Raytheon vice president of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems' Joint Battlespace Integration business team.

Advanced spectroscopic portals are panel-like devices that contain detectors used to screen people, cars, trucks and containers for illicit radioactive materials at some of the more than 600 ports of entry into the United States. This new generation of portals is needed to improve discrimination between innocent and threat materials, which will reduce the number of false alarms compared to the first generation of screening portals currently in place.

Integrated Defense Systems is Raytheon's leader in Joint Battlespace Integration providing affordable, integrated solutions to a strong international and domestic customer base, including the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, the U.S. Armed Forces and the Department of Homeland Security.

Raytheon Company, with 2005 sales of $21.9 billion, is an industry leader in defense and government electronics, space, information technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 80,000 people worldwide.

  Contact:
  Guy Shields
  978.858.5246

SOURCE: Raytheon Company

CONTACT: Guy Shields of Raytheon Company, +1-978-858-5246

Web site: http://www.raytheon.com/