MARLBOROGH, Mass., Nov. 3, 2006 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company's (NYSE: RTN) Centaur program has been recognized by the Department of Defense and the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) as a Top 5 DoD program award winner.

The award recognizes excellence in the application of systems engineering resulting in highly successful programs. Members from Raytheon's Network Centric Systems Command and Control Systems' joint government-industry team were presented with the award during NDIA's 9th Annual Systems Engineering Conference in San Diego.

"Our joint government-industry team is key to the success we're having on the Centaur program," said Jack Harrington, vice president of Command and Control Systems for Raytheon's Network Centric Systems business. "The team is committed to providing the warfighter a portable, lightweight fire-direction-system capability for use during initial entry operations. Centaur gives the battlefield commander immediate access to artillery prior to the deployment of the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS)."

Centaur is a handheld, automated technical fire direction system that serves as a backup to AFATDS or as the initial occupation system for fire direction solutions. It was designed to support airborne, air assault, and light infantry units, while providing immediate fire direction functionality to rapid deployment forces. Centaur's ability to provide immediate early entry automated fire direction makes it the ideal choice for light units. It is the only system that computes displays and checks artillery firing solutions with safety data and identifies violations.

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:
  Steve Brecken
  508.490.2627

SOURCE: Raytheon Company

CONTACT: Steve Brecken of Raytheon, +1-508-490-2627

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