TEWKSBURY, Mass., April 30, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has been awarded a $3.3 million contract to overcome thermal challenges in semiconductors designed for next-generation high-power radars and other electronic systems.

The award is for the first of a three-phase Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Radio Frequency Thermal Ground Plane program that could be worth

$8 million if all options are exercised. The full three-phase program is designed to run 45 months beginning now and ending in the fourth quarter of 2011.

"The Raytheon solution couples innovative nanostructured materials with optimized fluid systems and thermal expansion-matched packaging," said Mark Russell, vice president of Engineering at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS). "This approach overcomes power density, total heat dissipation, and weight and fit limitations of current heat pipe technology to achieve up to 100 times the effective thermal conductivity of conventional packaging materials."

Using its OpenAIR™ business model for assembling talent and capabilities for a solution to DARPA's Radio Frequency Thermal Ground Plane program, Raytheon IDS is leading a team of experts from both academia and industry. They include players from Purdue University, Georgia Tech Research Institute, University of Minnesota, Thermacore, Lancaster, Pa.; and Illuminex, also located in Lancaster, Pa., in addition to Raytheon talent.

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 2006 sales of $19.7 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:
  Mike Nason
  703.419.1421

SOURCE: Raytheon Company

CONTACT: Mike Nason of Raytheon Company, +1-703-419-1421

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