MCKINNEY, Texas, Aug. 5  /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company and its team
submitted an updated Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) proposal to the Space
and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), San Diego, Calif.

    MUOS is the Department of Defense's (DoD) next-generation, advanced narrow
band communications satellite constellation that will serve the U.S. Army, Air
Force, Navy and Marine Corps.  SPAWAR was originally scheduled to award a
multi-billion dollar MUOS Risk Reduction, Design Development, Acquisition and
Operations Support (RRDD AOS) contract in June, 2004.  When recent DoD budget
cuts forced program delays, SPAWAR asked Raytheon and another team to revise
their earlier proposals and resubmit them by Aug. 2, 2004.

    "Our proposal retains and enhances benefits that were in our previous
offering," said Frank Van Rensselaer, Raytheon MUOS program manager.  "With
the launch of the first MUOS satellite, more than 45,000 legacy military
radios and their users will get a 10-fold increase in communication
capability.  We can do this without changing legacy radios, which could avoid
the government's need to spend nearly $12 billion on platform modification."

    Gene Blackwell, Raytheon vice president of Transformational Communication
Systems, said, "MUOS gives our troops 'comms on the move.'  This is especially
important to warfighters in urban areas, dense jungle or other environments
where communicating is very difficult, today."

    Raytheon's MUOS team members are: Honeywell Space Systems (NYSE: HON),
Clearwater, Fla.; Northrop Grumman Astro Aerospace (NYSE: NOC), Santa Barbara,
Calif.; Science Applications International Corporation, Reston, Va.; ViaSat
(NASDAQ: VSAT) Carlsbad, Calif., and Space Systems/Loral, Palo Alto, Calif.

    Loral Space & Communications Ltd., the parent of the team's satellite bus
maker, Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), recently announced that it has reached an
agreement with the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in its chapter 11
reorganization on the principal terms of a plan of reorganization that will
lead to the early filing of a consensual plan and an exit from chapter 11
proceedings by the end of the year.  The proposed plan will enable Loral,
including SS/L, to emerge substantially debt-free and with its current
management team intact.  Space Systems/Loral is a world-class satellite
designer and manufacturer, one of five such companies in the world.

    Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), with 2003 sales of $18.1 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 78,000 people worldwide.

    Note to Editors:

    RRDD and AOS cover the development, integration and ongoing support of the
MUOS satellite constellation, its communication payloads, and a network that
will connect warfighters to the system and each other.

    In today's environment, soldiers, Marines and special operations forces
going into harm's way need communications systems that can relay time-critical
information to help troops meet their objectives and save their lives.  Today,
these members of the armed services are the so-called disadvantaged users,
whose need for satellite communication will be addressed by MUOS.  This
constellation will replace the UHF Follow On, or UFO.


  Contact:
   Patricia Perlini
   972.952.4033


SOURCE: Raytheon Company

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