SALT LAKE CITY, May 5  /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Army Program Management
Intelligence and Effects and Raytheon Company accepted one of five awards
given by CrossTalk, The Journal of Defense Software Engineering, for high
quality in government software development. The Advanced Field Artillery
Tactical Data System (AFATDS), jointly developed by the Army, Marine Corps and
Raytheon, is one of the winning software programs.

    Last year, CrossTalk announced plans to identify the top five software
projects within the United States government, to recognize outstanding
performance by their software teams, and to promote their best practices.
CrossTalk received 44 award nominations and-through a series of evaluations-
recommended 15 programs to a panel of judges who then selected this year's
winners, including AFATDS.

    AFATDS is the Army's system of record for planning, coordinating and
controlling the use of all mortars, close air support, naval gunfire, attack
helicopters, offensive electronic warfare, field artillery cannons, rockets
and guided missiles. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, AFATDS directed more than
35,000 rounds of munitions, 857 rockets, and 453 long-range missiles safely to
their targets, while preventing fratricide and the loss of friendly aircraft.

    Because soldiers' lives depend on AFATDS, rigid adherence to high
standards guides the system's software development.  Raytheon uses the
Capability Maturity Model processes, the Integrated Product Development
System, Raytheon Six Sigma and incremental additions of new functionality to
assure that the program meets its approximately 5,000 system requirements and
8,500 software requirements.

    "AFATDS has been a model procurement program-on schedule, within budget
and meeting all technical performance standards and contractual delivery
requirements," said Lt. Gen. Steven W. Boutelle, the U.S. Army's chief
information officer. "AFATDS's greatest contribution in 2003 was the
outstanding performance of six-hundred systems used by the front-line fire
support units of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps during Operation Iraqi
Freedom."

    "AFATDS uses a robust communication architecture that provides the entire
theatre with a common understanding of the fire support battlefield
situation," said Lt. Col. James J. Chapman, product manager Fire Support
Command and Control. "It knows the location of every fire support platform on
the battlefield, its ammunition status, its range capability, etc."

    Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), 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.

    Note to editors:

    CrossTalk received 44 award nominations.  Three software professionals
scored each nomination for customer value, performance and technical value.
End users of the highest scoring projects described their level of
satisfaction with the nominated projects.  Based on this information, 15
projects were selected and sent to a board of judges who made the final
selection of the top five software projects.


   Contact:
   Patricia Perlini
   972.952.4033


SOURCE: Raytheon Company

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