Raytheon's Upgraded Early Warning Radar Participates Successfully in Key Missile Defense Flight Test

Raytheon
Tuesday March 21, 10:00 am ET

TEWKSBURY, Mass., March 21, 2006 /PRNewswire/ --

Raytheon Company's Upgraded Early Warning Radar (UEWR) at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., performed successfully in a flight test of the Ground Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). The test was conducted by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Feb. 23.

The UEWR, developed by Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS), successfully tracked the target system launched from the Kodiak Launch Center, Alaska, for approximately 20 minutes during its flight downrange to the test area several hundred miles west of California.

'This was a critical test of the missile defense capability of the UEWR, and we're pleased that the radar appears to have performed flawlessly,' said Pete Franklin, vice president, Raytheon IDS Missile Defense. 'This first GMD flight test for the Beale UEWR is particularly significant because it successfully demonstrated the radar's capability to provide information to the GMD system in support of an interceptor engagement.'

Dave Gulla, director of Early Warning Radar Programs for Raytheon IDS, said, 'Based on our initial assessment at Beale, our radar and test team achieved all planned objectives, successfully operated with the other components in the GMD system and provided intercept-quality tracking and object classification data as planned.'

Continuing the Raytheon heritage with UHF phased array radars, the Beale UEWR program upgrades existing PAVE PAWS and Ballistic Missile Early Warning System radars by adding missile defense capabilities while retaining legacy missile warning and space surveillance missions. A key sensor for the MDA's BMDS, UEWR provides 'no doubt'- midcourse target detection and tracking for the GMD portion of the BMDS to protect the U.S. from ballistic missile attacks. Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is the prime contractor for the GMD program.

Based in Tewksbury, Mass., Integrated Defense Systems is Raytheon's leader in Joint Battlespace Integration. With a strong international and domestic customer base, including the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. armed forces, Integrated Defense Systems provides integrated air and missile defense and naval and maritime warfighting solutions.

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN - News), 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."