TEWKSBURY, Mass. and PARIS, June 15, 2009 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) in cooperation with KONGSBERG (Norway) has been selected to fulfill Finland's medium range air defense missile system requirements with the National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS).

"We look forward to working with the Finnish Defense Forces to provide Finland with the finest medium range air defense system," said Pete Franklin, vice president, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems' National & Theater Security Programs. "I am confident that this relationship will be as fruitful and enduring as our relationship with KONGSBERG and the Norwegian Air Force."

NASAMS is designed and built in transatlantic cooperation with KONGSBERG and Raytheon. NASAMS is robust, reliable and designed to excel in air defense operations, featuring state-of-the-art sensors, command, control and communication systems, and missile technology. The system is a network-enabled, distributed capability that uses the Raytheon MPQ-64F1 (Sentinel) radar and the AIM 120 AMRAAM missile in a surface-launched mode. The KONGSBERG-Raytheon team has more than 25 years' joint experience of delivering air defense systems to international customers.

NASAMS was developed in Norway during the 1990s and has since then been contracted by the Netherlands, Spain and the U.S. In the latter case, the high-capacity system was operational in the National Capital Region in connection with the 2005 presidential inauguration and has been in continuous operation there ever since. The Surface Launched AMRAAM (SL-AMRAAM) configuration selected by Finland is NASAMS II, similar to the configuration fielded in Norway. NASAMS II is the most recent version of the system produced by Raytheon and KONGSBERG and delivered to Norway in 2007.

Integrated Defense Systems is Raytheon's leader in Global Capabilities Integration providing affordable, integrated solutions to a broad 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 2008 sales of $23.2 billion, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 87 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 a broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 73,000 people worldwide.

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