TEWKSBURY, Mass., April 29, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has successfully completed the mission system design readiness review for the Zumwalt-class destroyer program. The review confirmed that the mission system design for America's new multi-mission destroyer is mature and meets U.S. Navy requirements.

To date, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) and the Zumwalt National Team have completed more than 2.7 million lines of software code and 10,127 drawings, conducted detailed design reviews of 92 percent of the program's detail design and integration elements, and transitioned 56 percent of those elements to production. Raytheon has also completed extensive land- based and onboard-ship testing of the prototype dual band radar.

"The team has done an outstanding job to ensure the mission system design meets the end-to-end requirements and is producible and affordable," said U.S. Navy Captain James Syring, Zumwalt program manager. "I was very impressed with the design maturity of the mission system and its readiness for production."

Raytheon IDS led the mission system design readiness review in cooperation with the Navy and a number of Zumwalt National Team partners. IDS is the Navy's mission systems integrator for Zumwalt, partnering with industry teammates and many small businesses. Raytheon leads the national team, working in close collaboration with the U.S. Navy, to ensure the highest level of program performance, technical quality and affordability.

The mission system design readiness review, attended by approximately 185 representatives from the U.S. Navy and the Zumwalt National Team, was a culmination of more than 100 individual walk-up reviews. It confirmed the maturity of the Zumwalt mission system design. The review focused on Zumwalt's mission systems, providing a status and technical assessment of the hardware, software and crew design.

The review included an in-depth assessment of Zumwalt's advanced mission area capabilities, including air defense and land attack. It also included surface, information and undersea dominance, all enabled by Zumwalt's state-of the-art open architecture design, surveillance, engagement and mobility capabilities, and unsurpassed level of stealth.

"The mission system design readiness review success is a testament to the strength, teamwork and resourcefulness of Zumwalt's government-industry team," said IDS' Ed Geisler, vice president and Zumwalt program manager. "Now, more than ever, we see the benefits of this effective collaboration as we successfully continue mission system design and production leading us to ship delivery."

The successful mission system design readiness review represents an important milestone as the national team prepares for the total ship system production readiness review in October 2008.

The team continues to achieve program milestones with standard and interim design and program reviews with the U.S. Navy to verify system and element design, scope and maturity. Most recently, IDS successfully completed the software design review of the ship's Total Ship Computing Environment and the Software Systems Safety Technical Review Panel. Zumwalt program and technical performance continue to be on schedule and on cost over six years of design, development, integration, test, and production.

Under the Navy's Zumwalt Detail Design and Integration contract awarded in 2005, Raytheon IDS serves as the prime mission systems equipment integrator for all electronic and combat systems for the Zumwalt-class destroyer program. Working with the Navy and a team of industry leaders, IDS is leading the effort to transform the Navy's surface warfare requirements to reality. For more information, visit http://www.raytheon.com/products/ddg_1000.

Integrated Defense Systems is Raytheon's leader in Joint Battlespace Integration providing affordable, integrated solutions to a broad international and domestic customer base, including the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, the U.S. Armed Forces and the Department of Homeland Security.

Raytheon Company, with 2007 sales of $21.3 billion, is a technology leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 86 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 72,000 people worldwide.

  Contact:
  Carolyn Beaudry
  401.842.3550

SOURCE: Raytheon Company

CONTACT: Carolyn Beaudry of Raytheon Company, +1-401-842-3550

Web site: http://www.raytheon.com/
http://www.raytheon.com/products/ddg_1000