Raytheon awarded Paveway II Laser Guided Bomb production contract
TUCSON, Ariz., March 29, 2004 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has
been awarded the maximum available share of three competitive contracts for Paveway(TM) II Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) components by the U.S.Air Force.
The contracts include a 70 percent share of the fiscal year 2004 LGB procurements for the Air Force and Navy for $116 million plus 100 percent of a stand-alone contract to provide front end guidance units to the Air Force.
Work will be done primarily at Raytheon facilities in Tucson, Arizona and Sherman, Texas.
The Paveway(TM) LGB system features an onboard guidance system, the computer control group that detects and guides the unit to a target illuminated by an external laser source. Since first developed in 1968 by Texas Instruments (now Raytheon), the Paveway series of LGBs has revolutionized tactical air-to-ground warfare. The precision guided bombs are used successfully against a wide array of targets including bunkers, buildings, bridges, runways, aircraft shelters and missile launchers.
"These semi-active laser-guided munitions not only drastically reduce the number of weapons required to destroy a target, but also feature accuracy, reliability and cost-effectiveness previously unobtainable with conventional weapons," said Maj. Jose Delarosa, the Paveway program manager at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. "Laser guided bombs have been the 'weapon of choice' in every conflict since Operation Desert Storm. More than 8,700 LGBs were used in Operation Iraqi Freedom, accounting for approximately half of all the air-launched precision guided munitions."
The Raytheon control group to be delivered under the contracts is upgradeable to Raytheon's dual mode (laser and GPS) Enhanced Paveway II, similar to those used extensively by the United Kingdom in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“We are extremely proud of our Paveway(TM) team here at Raytheon and of our suppliers across the nation. Our combined production team strives for continuous improvements in manufacturing efficiencies that maintain the lowest cost and highest quality that allow us to remain the premier supplier of Laser Guided Bombs," said Ben Ford, Paveway program director at Raytheon Missile Systems. "As a defense contractor, we build systems like Paveway II that we hope serve as a deterrent. But when a need arises, we are proud to provide this reliable and effective weapon system to our men and women of the armed services."
Raytheon Company, 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.
SOURCE Raytheon Company
Web site: http: //www.raytheon.com