TEWKSBURY, Mass., Dec. 13, 2005 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) President Dan Smith has been appointed to the Alliance Principals' Council for Australia's Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) Program. The appointment was announced in a statement released by Australia's Minister for Defence, Senator the Honorable Robert Hill.

The council will be chaired by retired Vice Admiral Chris Ritchie, Royal Australian Navy, for the purpose of "building strong team relationships between the project's alliance partners." The other members of the council include John Prescott, chairman of ASC (the shipbuilder); Lt. Gen. David Hurley, Chief of Capability Development Group; and Dr. Stephen Gumley, CEO Defence Materiel Organisation.

"I look forward to working with Admiral Ritchie and the other members of the council," Smith said. "Building a strong relationship between the Alliance partners, including Raytheon Australia as the mission systems integrator for the AWD, is critical to ensure the successful delivery of this important capability for the Australian Defence Force."

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. Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. armed forces, Integrated Defense Systems provides a wide spectrum of integrated air and missile defense and naval and maritime warfighting solutions.

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), 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:
   Guy Shields
   978.858.5246

SOURCE: Raytheon Company

CONTACT: Guy Shields of Raytheon Company, +1-978-858-5246

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