Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Raytheon Awarded $165 Million for Light- and Heavyweight Torpedoes

Raytheon Awarded $165 Million for Light- and Heavyweight Torpedoes

TEWKSBURY, Mass., Oct. 15, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has been awarded a $165 million U.S. Navy contract to provide MK54 lightweight and MK48 heavyweight torpedo hardware, engineering and support services.

Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) will produce and deliver 228 MK48 Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System (CBASS) torpedo guidance and control upgrade kits and 192 MK54 lightweight torpedo kits. Nineteen MK48 CBASS upgrade kits are to be produced for the Royal Australian Navy, and 100 MK54 torpedo kits will be delivered to the Turkish Navy via a foreign military sales agreement.

In addition, Raytheon IDS will provide associated services to support the Navy's operational requirements for torpedo programs.

"This contract extends Raytheon's established partnership with the U.S. Navy in the development of the world's most capable undersea warfare weapons," said IDS' Charles "Tom" Bush, vice president, Seapower Capability Systems. "We remain committed to building, testing and delivering affordable, high- performance reliable weapons systems that our customers can rely on, without a doubt."

Raytheon IDS is the U.S. Navy's sole production supplier for light- and heavyweight torpedoes, working directly with the U.S. Navy to meet the torpedo requirements of U.S. and allied fleets. Together, the U.S. Navy and Raytheon have formed a total enterprise partnership, Team Torpedo, dedicated to the design and production of the world's most capable torpedoes.

Raytheon's Team Torpedo combines manufacturing, design engineering, and support services expertise with the systems engineering and testing capabilities of Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) operations in Newport, R.I., and Keyport, Wash.

Both the MK54 and MK48 have undergone rigorous operational testing, including a recent successful torpedo sink exercise involving a MK48 CBASS torpedo fired from the Royal Australian Navy's Collins-class submarine, HMAS Waller.

Work on the contracts will be performed at Raytheon's Torpedo and Readiness Center, co-located with the U.S. Navy at NUWC Division Keyport, Wash., and at the Seapower Capability Center, Portsmouth, R.I.


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