TEWKSBURY, Mass., April 18, 2005 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company's Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) has been awarded a three-year, $26.9 million Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract with a potential award value of $59.4 million if all program options are exercised.

The program will optimize and refine the use of Gallium Nitride (GaN) semiconductors for use in military and civilian systems. Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) is the prime contractor, having teamed with Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE), headquartered in Durham, N.C., on this leading edge technology.

"Teaming with Cree is all about speed -- combining the capabilities of the scientists at both companies will make this technology available to the warfighter much sooner," said Joe Smolko, Raytheon program manager for the WBGS-RF (Wide Bandgap Semiconductors for Radio Frequency) applications program.

GaN is capable of providing 10 times the output power of similarly sized Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) components. It enables systems solutions that are smaller, lighter, more efficient and more cost effective than can be realized with current technology and is the enabling building block for Raytheon's high-power and wideband strategy. "The Raytheon-Cree team has the systems knowledge, technical leadership, and semiconductor infrastructure to assure program success and transition into systems," said Mark Russell, IDS's vice president of Engineering.

The Raytheon portion of the work will be conducted at Raytheon RF Components in Andover, Mass., while Cree's portion of the work will be conducted in Durham, N.C. and its Santa Barbara Technology Center in Calif.

Based in Tewksbury, Mass., Integrated Defense Systems is Raytheon's leader in joint battlespace integration. With a strong international and domestic customer base, including the U.S. armed forces and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, Integrated Defense Systems provides integrated solutions for the air, surface and subsurface battlespace.

Raytheon Company, with 2004 sales of $20.2 billion, is an industry leader in defense and government electronics, space, information technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 80,000 people worldwide.

Cree is an advanced semiconductor company that leverages its expertise in silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) materials technology to produce new and enabling semiconductors. The products include blue, green and ultraviolet (UV) light emitting diodes (LEDs), near UV lasers, radio frequency (RF) and microwave devices, and power switching devices. Targeted applications for these products include solid state illumination, optical storage, military RF systems, wireless infrastructure and power switching.

Note to Editors: This award was originally announced by the Department of Defense on Feb. 11, 2005.

  Contact:
   Guy Shields
   978.858.5246

SOURCE: Raytheon Company

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