TEWKSBURY, Mass., Feb. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has been awarded a $107 million U.S. Air Force contract to further the design of the Space Fence system.

Under this contract, Raytheon will deliver a preliminary design and test a functional radar prototype to ensure cost and schedule certainty and technical maturity of the final design in support of Milestone B.

"As the amount of debris in space continues to rise, the ability to detect smaller and smaller objects with more affordable, ground-based sensors becomes increasingly urgent," said Dave Gulla, vice president, National & Theater Security Programs for Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems. "Leveraging our vast heritage in radar development, combined with our latest technological advancements, the Raytheon Space Fence solution provides the Air Force with an affordable and much-needed, increased space situational awareness capability for many years to come."

The work performed during this phase continues to reduce total program risk through the development of a preliminary design with mature technologies that meet or exceed Technology Readiness Level 6 and Manufacturing Readiness Level 6. In addition, a functional radar prototype, with hardware and software components representative of the technology in the final design, will demonstrate the maturity of these critical technologies.

"We look forward to continuing our partnership with the Air Force and identifying areas of opportunity to increase affordability and eliminate risk from the program," said Scott Spence, program director, Space Fence program for Raytheon IDS.

This contract is the second phase of a multiphase acquisition program, leading to the delivery of up to three, globally positioned, S-band radars operating in the U.S. Space Surveillance Network. Space Fence is a modern, net-centric sensor capable of detecting more and much-smaller objects in low earth orbit and medium earth orbit to provide greater completeness, accuracy, and timeliness to meet warfighter space situational awareness requirements.

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.

Note to Editors:

Milestone B is a point at which a recommendation is made and approval sought regarding starting or continuing an acquisition program, i.e., proceeding to the next phase. Specifically, Milestone B approves entry into the engineering and manufacturing development phase.

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SOURCE Raytheon Company