TUCSON, Ariz., Oct. 9, 2006 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company has achieved five consecutive years of meeting or exceeding contract schedule deliveries of the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW).

JSOW provides warfighters a long-range, precision-guided, air-to-ground weapon that allows them to stay out of harm's way.

JSOW-A and JSOW-C variants shipped to the U.S. Navy in September marked 60 straight months of on-time or ahead-of-schedule deliveries. Raytheon is currently delivering the weapons four weeks ahead of contract schedule. More than 2,500 have been delivered to date.

Raytheon is under contract with the Naval Air Systems Command to provide JSOW to the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force.

Raytheon's JSOW program won the 2005 U.S. Department of Defense David Packard Award for Excellence in Acquisition for JSOW Block II cost reduction initiatives resulting in a 25 percent reduction in unit cost.

"Five years of on time production that provides our warfighters with a critically needed weapon is a remarkable accomplishment," said Harry Schulte, Strike Weapons vice president at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson. "This five-year milestone represents a lot of hard work, careful planning and attention to detail by all members of the JSOW team including suppliers, contractor and the government."

JSOW production will transition to Block II in 2007, which significantly lowers the unit price. Raytheon and the Navy have begun development of a Block III variant of the weapon, which will add moving target capability by including a weapons data link and other improvements.

"We will give the fleet the capability to engage moving land and sea targets at range using a network-capable weapon," said Cmdr. Eric Holmberg, the Navy's deputy JSOW program manager. "JSOW Block III will enable our Navy and Marine Corps warfighters to attack moving enemy targets at long range through bad weather."

Unit cost reduction continues with Block III. Incorporating a weapon data link provides the capability of in-flight communications of missile health and status; receiving in-flight target updates; and transmitting weapon position up to time of impact. Block III will have anti-ship capabilities using the JSOW-C IIR seeker for targeting. The first Block III weapon is scheduled to be produced in 2009.

JSOW is a joint Navy and Air Force program. It is a family of low-cost, air-to-ground weapons that employ an integrated global positioning system-inertial navigation system that guides the weapon to the target. It uses a common and modular weapon body capable of carrying various payloads. Its long standoff range, greater than 70 nautical miles, allows delivery from well outside the lethal range of most enemy air defenses. The weapon's low radar cross section and infrared signature are key stealth features and ensure a high probability of survival en route to highly defended targets.

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), 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.

Notes to Editors:

The AGM-154A (also called JSOW-A) variant dispenses BLU-97 combined-effect bomblets for use against soft and area targets. It is produced for use on the F/A-18, F-16, F-15E, B-2 and B-52 aircraft. The AGM-154C, or JSOW-C, variant incorporates an imaging infrared seeker for high precision and a BROACH multi-stage warhead, which has both a blast-fragmentation and hard target penetration capability for use against point targets. JSOW-C is in full rate production and achieved initial operational capability in February 2005 with the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps. It is currently being produced for Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18s, has been ordered by Poland and Turkey for use on its F-16s, and is planned for Greece and Singapore. Raytheon is also producing an AGM-154A-1 variant of the JSOW-A, which incorporates a BLU-111 warhead instead of BLU-97 submunitions for foreign military customers. More than 400 JSOW-As have been used in combat operations to date.

  Contact:
  Alan D. Fischer
  520.794.1211

SOURCE: Raytheon Company

CONTACT: Alan D. Fischer of Raytheon Company, +1-520-794-1211

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