LOS ANGELES, Jan. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has entered into a letter of intent with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to engage in a strategic relationship with the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science for the establishment of the UCLA Center for Public Safety Network Systems.

To lay the foundation for the new center, Raytheon has committed to initially contribute $1 million during three years to the UCLA Institute for Technology Advancement (ITA) of the School of Engineering and Applied Science to conduct research in the areas of public safety networks.

"The selection of UCLA for this partnership was an obvious choice.  Not only is UCLA one of the world's great research universities with numerous Nobel Prizes and National Academy faculty, the university is a long-standing world leader in radio communications networking technology," said Daniel Crowley, president of Raytheon Network Centric Systems. "The UCLA Center for Public Safety Network Systems will be easily accessible from our just-announced Raytheon Public Safety Regional Technology Center opening in Los Angeles County this summer and will further underscore our continuing commitment to the region and public safety market."

The mission of the UCLA-ITA Public Safety Network Systems Center is to bring together academia, industry and public safety agencies to provide technical leadership, a collaborative forum for research, as well to establish standards for public safety networks. The center will operate to benefit the public safety agencies and guide the public safety community in the evolution of technologies and standards. Any public or private organization that meets the membership requirements to be established by UCLA will be welcome to join the center.

Raytheon Company, with 2010 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 89 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 72,000 people worldwide.

SOURCE Raytheon Company