GOLETA, Calif., May 12  /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has
received two contract awards totaling $63.7 million from the U.S. Air Force
Electronic Warfare Product Group, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Ga., for
the ALE-50 towed decoy system.

    The first award, valued at $56 million, represents the eighth production
lot of ALE-50 equipment being provided to the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy as
part of an original contract that began in December 1996. The Lot 8 award
calls for 2,528 decoys for the U.S. Air Force and 311 decoys for U.S. Navy
aircraft. Equipment acquired by the Lot 8 award will be delivered through
September 2006. Completion of the Lot 8 program will bring the total number of
decoys produced by Raytheon to 20,891.

    The second award, for $7.7 million, is for the continued evolution of the
ALE-50 decoy system's operational capabilities against increasingly
sophisticated threat environments. The effort includes engineering studies,
operational flight program changes, and development and delivery of four fault
isolation system testers. System enhancements are a result of lessons learned
from deployment of the system in operational environments and will provide
increased robustness in aircraft self-protection. The fault isolation testers
will provide significantly improved supportability for B-1B aircraft
operations in the field. Similar testers have been in use for F-16 aircraft
and have proven to increase maintainability and reduce workload for
maintenance personnel. Work under the contract is expected to be complete in
June 2005.

    "Nothing gives us greater satisfaction than knowing our products have been
proven to save the lives of our military customers," said Pat Hurley, vice
president and general manager of Raytheon Electronic Warfare Systems. "We're
committed to executing these programs flawlessly and continuing to provide
effective and affordable solutions for the protection of today's warfighter."

    Towed decoy systems provide enhanced aircraft survivability by acting as a
preferential target for many types of missile threats. Raytheon's ALE-50
system has played a key role in aircraft self-protection for several military
conflicts and is currently operational on F-16, B-1B and F/A-18 aircraft. Work
on the towed decoy system is being done at Raytheon's Space and Airborne
Systems business by its Electronic Warfare Systems organization located in
Goleta, Calif.

    Raytheon Company's Space and Airborne Systems designs, develops and
manufactures advanced systems for precision engagement; missile defense; and
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Headquartered in El Segundo,
Calif., Space and Airborne Systems has 11,000 employees and additional
facilities in Goleta, Calif.; Forest, Miss.; Dallas, McKinney and Plano,
Texas; and several international locations.

    Raytheon Company, with 2003 sales of $18.1 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 78,000 people worldwide.


  Contact:
   Ron Colman
   805.879.2041


SOURCE: Raytheon Company

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