MARLBOROUGH, Mass., Sept. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has teamed with AirDat LLC and Metron Aviation to provide a low-risk, cost effective and innovative approach for the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) weather programs. The partnership will help the FAA meet its airspace modernization efforts through better weather information that is assimilated into weather processing systems throughout the National Airspace System (NAS). Weather is the primary cause of air travel delays.

The Raytheon team will address two major FAA programs: NextGen Network Enabled Weather (NNEW) and NextGen Weather Processor (NWP). The combined forces of Raytheon, AirDat LLC and Metron Aviation will provide more accurate and consistent weather models, offering common benefits to stakeholders for tactical operations and strategic planning.

"Raytheon's teaming agreement with AirDat and Metron Aviation positions us to provide the NextGen weather solution set today through innovative and proven technologies that deliver weather benefits to NAS stakeholders and align with the FAA's NextGen weather vision," said Mike Prout, vice president for Raytheon Network Centric Systems' Security and Transportation Systems.

The Raytheon team will leverage FAA Automation Systems and Decision Support Tools and take full advantage of integration into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) 4 Dimensional Weather Cube, providing common benefits to weather stakeholders. Accelerating NextGen weather benefits now will help stakeholders improve operational efficiency early and ultimately save money.  

"Collectively, we have proven expertise across the entire NNEW and NWP requirements," said Prout. "We have the ability to deliver advanced weather forecasts and information, and the operational understanding to realize the NextGen benefits through integration into the ground automation systems and decision support tools."

Raytheon has over 50 years of experience in helping the FAA manage the NAS through systems such as the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS), Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS), Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR), Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) and many more.

About AirDat LLC
AirDat LLC is a privately-funded company created in 2003 to develop, produce and deploy the patented (Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data Reporting) TAMDAR sensor, and to create more accurate weather forecasts and business risk solutions from its unique high-resolution data stream. AirDat's capabilities include atmospheric modeling and application development, electronic design and product development, software systems development, and network design, management and data center services. Business and network operations are located in Morrisville, N.C., and engineering, research and development are based in Lakewood, Colo.

About Metron Aviation
Metron Aviation is a leading provider of advanced Air Traffic Management (ATM) products and services for the global aviation industry, including: Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM), concept engineering, advanced research, software development, surface operations management, airspace design and environmental analysis. Metron Aviation fuses advanced science and mathematics with unparalleled ATM expertise to provide groundbreaking Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) solutions for the world's leading Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP), airports, airlines and other stakeholders.

About Raytheon
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. For more about Raytheon, visit us at www.raytheon.com and follow us on Twitter at @raytheon.

Media Contact
Peter Ramjug
978.886.7738
ncspr@raytheon.com

SOURCE Raytheon Company