relievedRaytheon's Upgraded Early Warning Radar Participates Successfully in Key Missile Defense Flight Test
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), 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.
