TEWKSBURY, Mass., April 13, 2006 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has been awarded a U.S. Army contract valued at more than $47 million to upgrade Patriot PAC-2 missiles to the latest GEM+ configuration.

This is the eleventh delivery order awarded for GEM+ upgrades for a total contract value of $256 million. Since the program's inception in 2000, Raytheon has received awards for 770 GEM+ upgrades and has delivered 515 consistently on or ahead of schedule, with the remainder on track for delivery in 2006 and 2007.

"We're very proud of our ability and commitment to provide the Army with reliable, affordable, upgraded missiles to support its air defense mission," said Rick Yuse, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems Integrated Air Defense vice president. "This modernization program plays a vital role in providing the U.S. Army the capability to defeat modern threats."

The GEM+ configuration is an affordable capability upgrade that allows the Army to leverage existing missile inventory into the Configuration 3 capability and achieve near PAC-3 performance for a fraction of the cost.

Raytheon is the Army's prime contractor and the system integrator for the Patriot system. As the system integrator, Raytheon ensures that all Patriot system components, including the PAC-3 missile, provide the warfighter a reliable and highly lethal capability to defeat the threats in current and future combat environments.

Integrated Defense Systems is Raytheon's leader in Joint Battlespace Integration providing affordable, integrated solutions to a strong international and domestic customer base, including the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. armed forces.

Raytheon Company, with 2005 sales of $21.9 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/