Raytheon Team Successfully Demonstrates Information Sharing Firsts at Empire Challenge 2008

Oct. 28, 2008

Event allowed users to test and share battlespace information in real time

CHINA LAKE, Calif. , Oct. 28, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) accomplished several industry firsts including enhancing data sharing with coalition forces and multiple coalition sites worldwide at the Empire Challenge 2008.

The demonstration event held this summer at the China Lake Naval Air Warfare Center evaluated intelligence collection systems for joint and coalition operations.

The Empire Challenge event is designed to test and demonstrate techniques, standards and procedures for interoperation between U.S. and coalition intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets and systems, using a variety of U.S. and allied Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) ground systems.

"The exercise depicts how technology can increase the situational awareness and intelligence sharing by combining common and open joint network-centric environments," said Anthony DiFurio , director of Raytheon's Multi-Intelligence Systems. "It was a huge technology accomplishment for everyone involved in the Empire Challenge to make 21 DCGS Integration Backbone (DIB) systems interoperable across U.S., coalition and NATO networks."

Empire Challenge has grown from fewer than 50 participants to nearly 2,000 at this year's event. The effort has become the largest annual demonstration of U.S. and coalition ISR collection, processing and networking capabilities.

Raytheon achieved the industry firsts using the U.S. DCGS systems through the (DIB) federation capability in conjunction with High-Speed Guard, a Raytheon cross-domain security solution. The system successfully exchanged ISR information with coalition partners at sites worldwide via the Raytheon Multi-sensor Aerospace-ground Joint ISR Interoperability Coalition system.

Based in Garland, Texas , Raytheon IIS is a leading provider of information and intelligence solutions to the government. IIS had annual revenues of approximately $2.7 billion and employs more than 9,000 engineering and technical professionals worldwide.

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.

Note to Editors:

Raytheon's industry firsts at the event included:

-- Enhanced data sharing was accomplished with coalition forces and multiple coalition sites worldwide. -- Cross-domain enterprise federation of ISR information was demonstrated using Web services by integrating the DIB version 1.3 data and event cross domain filtering feature with Raytheon's High-Speed Guard. -- DIB Management Office was supported with integration of 25 DIB-enabled user nodes over five security domains. -- The High-Speed Guard cross-domain solution was key for data sharing between six separate security networks, providing secure high-speed transfers of real-time streaming video, imagery, Web services support, and other streaming data. -- Exploited ISR data was shared between two coalition security networks. -- Exploited ISR data from a coalition exploitation cell in one coalition network to the ISR management cell on another coalition network was demonstrated. -- The Marine Corps DCGS site received ISR data directly down-linked from an ISR asset and made it discoverable, accessible and retrievable by other DIB-enabled U.S. and coalition sites. -- Intelligence and combat operations was integrated at the Coalition Air Operations Center at Langley Air Force Base, Va. Contact: Keith Little 703.849.1675 [email protected]

SOURCE Raytheon Company

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