McKINNEY, Texas, Sept. 27, 2005 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) was recently awarded a $31.4 million contract to provide the Multispectral Targeting System (MTS)-A for the Navy MH-60 helicopter and the Predator UAV (unmanned airborne vehicle) programs.

Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) will deliver 32 MTS-A electro- optic/infrared (EO/IR) imaging systems under the Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC Crane) firm fixed price task order. The contract includes an option for an additional 19 systems. The work will be managed and manufactured at the company's McKinney, Texas, location.

"Raytheon has long led the industry in EO/IR development. Benefiting from that experience, MTS-A is a proven system currently in production and able to be quickly delivered to our NSWC Crane customer," remarked Fred Matthews, director, Raytheon Hunter Strike Systems. "Our McKinney site will further leverage its growing EO/IR center of excellence to provide the MH-60 and Predator platforms advanced sensor capabilities for assured mission success."

The AN/AAS-52 MTS-A provides superior ranging, detecting and tracking capabilities through high performance EO/IR and laser designation/illumination system attributes. Additionally, Raytheon's MTS-A gives customers configuration options without platform modification, and seamless mission system integration remains a cornerstone feature of the AN/AAS-52 due to common technology aspects of its turret components and system electronics unit.

"In today's challenging operational environment, having accurate battlespace awareness is key to critical decision making and timely response by our military services," stated Don Bex, project manager, NSWC Crane. "Systems like the MTS-A will provide our warfighters with the persistent surveillance capability and information needed to decide and respond."

Raytheon's MTS-A offers state of the art EO/IR and laser sensor capabilities, including seven fields of view, color TV, electronic zoom, three modes of automated video tracking, fused imagery, designation/range-finding and illumination, and analog and digital video outputs. Multi-capable, the AN/AAS-52 comes fully loaded for multiple mission applications in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance on manned and unmanned aircraft.

Raytheon SAS is the leading provider of sensor systems giving warfighters the most accurate and timely information available for the network-centric battlefield. With 2004 revenues of $4 billion and 13,000 employees, SAS is headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., with additional facilities in Goleta, Calif.; Forest, Miss.; Dallas, McKinney and Plano, Texas; and several international locations.

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.

  Contact
   Dave Desilets
   972-952-2239 office
   David_C_Desilets@raytheon.com

SOURCE: Raytheon Company

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