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Raytheon Successfully Completes Testing of Navy Multiband Terminal Satellite Communications System Ahead of Schedule
MARLBOROUGH, Mass., March 23, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Please note that the following is a corrected version of the press release that was distributed Wednesday, March 21, 2007, by Raytheon Company, over PR Newswire.
Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has determined it has successfully completed all formal testing of the Navy Multiband Terminal (NMT) satellite communication system and exceeded performance requirements while finishing nearly three weeks ahead of schedule.
NMT is a system of submarine, shore-based and shipboard communications terminals for the transformational satellite communications (SATCOM) component of the U.S. Navy's FORCEnet concept.
"These tests demonstrated that Raytheon's NMT will be ready to deliver on time to meet the Navy's critical schedule and will provide the reliability that warfighters can absolutely depend on," said William H. Swanson, Raytheon's Chairman and CEO. "Our NMT highlights Raytheon's unmatched experience and expertise in fielding innovative mission-critical solutions."
Formal performance verification testing comes after Raytheon's earlier completion of rugged, critical environmental testing on the NMT two years ahead of schedule.
Among the 350 critical requirements that Raytheon has met in developing the NMT, a few particularly important capabilities stand out:
-- Raytheon determined that formal testing validated its new, advanced XDR (eXtended data rate) wave form performs both network and point-to-point anti-jam communications at data rates up to eight Mbps (megabits per second). This performance provides more than four times the current protected throughput to the warfighter. -- Raytheon validated that the NMT can operate on polar-inclined orbit satellites to provide full global connectivity for submarines even in the polar extremes. Raytheon further demonstrated nanosecond timing of antenna handovers under harsh at-sea conditions to ensure uninterrupted shipboard communications. -- In addition, Raytheon verified in its testing that NMT can automatically establish internet protocol connectivity using the Navy's Time Division Multiple Access Interface Processor or TIP, significantly enhancing bandwidth efficiency and greatly simplifying a sailor's duties when establishing communications. -- Raytheon's NMT provides warfighters worldwide connectivity through existing Department of Defense satellites and delivers technically advanced software solutions for new satellites such as Wideband Global SATCOM, scheduled to be in service in 2007, and Advanced Extremely High Frequency due in 2010.
The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, on behalf of its organizational partner, the Navy's Program Executive Office for C4I, expects to down select the NMT contract to a single performer in the third quarter of fiscal 2007.
Raytheon Company, with 2006 sales of $20.3 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 more than 80,000 people worldwide.
Note to Editors:
NMT provides the bandwidth efficiency that allows naval information networks to extend seamlessly from individual ships and submarines to other networks around the globe. NMT replaces three separate systems currently deployed in the U.S. Navy, extending the submarine and shipboard capability from Extremely High Frequency waveforms to Advanced Extremely High Frequency, X-band and Ka-band services and Global Broadcast System antenna. Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) refers to signal protocols used in many cell phone services, for example.
Contact: MB Hodgkiss 508.490.2607
SOURCE: Raytheon Company
CONTACT: MB Hodgkiss, +1-508-490-2607, for Raytheon Company
Web site: http://www.raytheon.com/