INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 22, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Navy's Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) a $32.4 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for engineering and manufacturing development of the BRU-69/A Multi-Purpose Bomb Rack system.

The MPBR will replace several bomb racks currently deployed on Navy aircraft. It will use pneumatic energy instead of an explosive charge to release the weapon from the rack. Advanced electronics built into the bomb rack will ensure the new system is compatible with current and future precision-guided weapons, or "smart bombs."

The MPBR system will be designed and built at the Raytheon Technical Services Company LLC (RTSC) facility in Indianapolis, Ind. The engineering and manufacturing development phase of the program will be completed in 2014, when low rate initial production is expected to begin, with full scale production starting in 2017.

For this program, RTSC is teamed with Ultra Electronics Precision Air Systems. Raytheon will design, develop and build the bomb rack, while Ultra will produce the airborne High Pressure Pure Air Generator that produces the pneumatic energy for the release system.

"Because of its low-maintenance, high-reliability design, the MPBR is expected to provide substantial life-cycle cost savings, compared with existing racks," said RTSC Customized Engineering and Depot Support Vice President Wayne Iurillo. "The single configuration for multiple stores will also be designed to significantly increase savings."  

Raytheon Company, with 2009 sales of $25 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 88 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 75,000 people worldwide.

SOURCE Raytheon Company