TUCSON, Ariz., April 30  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE:
RTN) has been awarded a $232.7 million contract to begin full-rate production
of the Evolved SEASPARROW Missile (ESSM) for the U.S. Navy and nine other
allied nations.

    An international cooperative upgrade of the RIM-7 NATO SEASPARROW Missile,
ESSM provides self-defense battlespace and firepower against high-speed,
highly maneuverable anti-ship missiles.

    The contract calls for production of 368 missiles and associated spares
for Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and the U.S. by
October 2006. Fifty-percent of the work will be done by Raytheon and 50
percent by the program's international partners.

    Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition
John Young signed the full rate production acquisition memorandum on Jan. 12,
2004, leading to the contract. ESSM was declared to be "operationally suitable
and effective" and was recommended for fleet introduction in September 2003
following a successful Operational Testing and Evaluation (OPEVAL) program.

    "ESSM represents an important new capability that will make it the most
widely deployed missile of its kind in the world. Nations with ESSM will be
outfitted with the latest ship defense technology to counter the missile
threats of today and tomorrow," said Capt. Barney Cramp, project manager for
the NATO SEASPARROW Program Office.

    "The successful OPEVAL, the full-rate production decision and the
escalating production rate of ESSM is considered a testimonial to the
outstanding efforts of our multi-national industrial design/production team,"
said Gary Hagedon, Raytheon's ESSM program director.

    ESSM is bringing transformational anti-ship missile defense capabilities
to the naval fleets of the United States and its NATO allies. The missile is
being developed for the U.S. Navy and nine of the other 11 member nations of
the NATO SEASPARROW Consortium. ESSM will be deployed on Aegis Flight IIa
Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, Aegis Ticonderoga class
cruisers, aircraft carriers and the Navy's newest destroyer, DDX. Raytheon
began developing ESSM at its Missile Systems business in Tucson, Ariz., in
1995. Raytheon delivered the first production ESSM to the Navy in September
2002.

    Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), with 2003 sales of $18.1 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 78,000 people worldwide.


   Contact:
   Sara Hammond
   520.794.7810


SOURCE: Raytheon Company

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