Raytheon Receives $24.3 Million for Production of Towed Decoys

GOLETA, Calif. , Oct. 16, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has received a $24.3 million contract for continued production of its ALE-50 line of towed decoys.

The award by the U.S. Air Force Warner Robins Air Logistics Center represents the 12th production lot of ALE-50 equipment ordered for the Air Force and Navy. The contract calls for 799 decoys for the Air Force and 249 for the Navy to be delivered through October 2010 .

"The tradition of success of our towed decoy product line continues," said Roy Azevedo , manager of Raytheon's Electronic Warfare business area. "Not only is ALE-50's operational performance unequaled, our record of on-time production is a model for program execution."

Production of ALE-50 equipment began in December 1996 . Raytheon recently produced its 23,000th ALE-50 decoy and has achieved 12 years of on-time deliveries. Completion of the Lot 12 program will bring the total number of decoys produced by Raytheon to 25,682.

Towed decoy systems enhance aircraft survivability by acting as a preferential target for many types of missiles. Raytheon's ALE-50 system has played a key role in aircraft self-protection for several military conflicts and is currently operational on F-16, B-1B and F/A-18 aircraft.

Work on the towed decoy system is being done at the company's Space and Airborne Systems business at its Tactical Airborne Systems facility in Goleta, Calif .

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.

SOURCE Raytheon Company