TUCSON, Ariz., Sept. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Missile Defense Agency awarded Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) $87 million to purchase long-lead materials needed to produce up to 17 Standard Missile-3 Block IIAs that will be used for testing and initial deployment. A follow-on contract for the additional materials, parts and components is expected by early 2016.

"Our Japanese partners have been tremendous allies in this development program, and together we've taken ballistic missile defense to the next level," said Dr. Taylor W. Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems president. "When the SM-3 Block IIA deploys in 2018, we will have a greater degree of protection than ever before."

The SM-3 Block IIA has larger rocket motors and a bigger, more capable kill vehicle that allows it to take out threats sooner in flight and protect larger regions of land. 

"The SM-3 Block IIA can be used at sea or on land with no modification to the missile," said Amy Cohen, Standard Missile-3 program director. "The SM-3 is the only ballistic missile defense interceptor that can be deployed both ways, and that flexibility is a tremendous asset."

The program is on track for both land and sea deployment in 2018 in line with Phase 3 of the U.S.'s Phased Adaptive Approach for missile defense of U.S. deployed forces and allies in NATO Europe.

About the Standard Missile-3 
SM-3s destroy incoming ballistic missile threats in space using nothing more than sheer impact, which is equivalent to a 10-ton truck traveling at 600 mph.

• More than 230 SM-3s have been delivered to date.
• SM-3 Block IB will be deployed at sea and ashore in 2015 in Romania.
• SM-3 Block IIA is on track for deployment at sea and ashore in 2018 in Poland and/or Romania.

About Raytheon
Raytheon Company, with 2014 sales of $23 billion and 61,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 93 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as cybersecurity and a broad range of mission support services. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Mass. For more about Raytheon, visit us at www.raytheon.com and follow us on Twitter @Raytheon.

Media Contacts 
Heather Uberuaga 
+1.520.891.8421 
rmspr@raytheon.com 

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SOURCE Raytheon Company