TEWKSBURY, Mass., June 24, 2009 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) recently held the first Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)-Small Business Technology Transfer forum at the company's Warfighter Protection Center, Huntsville, Ala.

Hosted by the Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems' Battlespace Integration Directorate, more than 20 small businesses, government customers, technical leads and engineering representatives attended the one-day event designed to build relationships in working smarter, not harder, in battlespace integration. Among the technologies discussed were networks and architectures, training and logistics, modeling, operations planning and cyber defense.

"We were delighted to see the extensive participation by small business and government representatives," said John Urias, vice president of Raytheon's Battlespace Integration Directorate. "We had excellent feedback from both industry and government representatives stating their appreciation of Raytheon taking the lead to link the two together through the SBIR process."

The first half of the forum allowed the government representatives to explain their organizations, their requirements and goals. The second half was devoted to one-on-one proprietary meetings between Raytheon subject matter experts, supply chain representatives and principal investigators for the small businesses participating in the SBIR program. Follow-up was immediate as facilitators in each interview took detailed notes and uploaded their information to a shared area for the subject matter experts to review. Government agencies participating in the forum were from the Huntsville area.

Raytheon has several existing Army programs and new pursuits in which the latest technology can give greater capabilities to the warfighter at a lower cost.

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.

    Contact:
    Jim Keller
    256.542.4051

SOURCE: Raytheon Company

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

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