Raytheon team wins AF intel system contract

A team led by Raytheon Co. of Lexington, Mass., will build a network that integrates multiple intelligence systems into a single, worldwide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system.

Raytheon officials announced the win last week. It is worth $157 million over one and one-half years. But options to include 29 Air Force and 39 Navy systems could push the contract value up to $360 million, officials said.

The Raytheon team "will ensure that our armed forces will have the right information at the right time to win on any battlefield now and in the future," said William Swanson, Raytheon's president and chief executive officer.

The team includes Lockheed Martin Corp. of Bethesda, Md., BAE Systems plc of Hampshire, U.K., and General Dynamics Corp. of Falls Church, Va. The contract was awarded by the Air Force's Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.

The companies will upgrade an intelligence system called the Distributed Common Ground System, known as DCGS 10.2 Multi-INT upgrade. Web-based technologies will make intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance an integrated element of Defense Department weapons systems. The work will be performed at various customer sites.

Raytheon had revenue of $16.8 billion in 2002. The company employs more than 76,000 people worldwide. Raytheon ranked No. 6 on the Washington Technology Top 100 list.