TEWKSBURY, Mass., July 14, 2006 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company has been selected by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop and produce the next generation of Advanced Spectroscopic Portal (ASP) nuclear detection capability.
The ASP contract, with an initial funded value of $18.2 million, places Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) at the forefront of border security and national defense preventing the smuggling of nuclear materials through ports of entry. The domestic market for these portals is estimated to be greater than $1 billion.
Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) is leading a team that includes Bubble Technology Industries (BTI) to produce a medium resolution Advanced Spectroscopic Portal system.
"This contract represents the opening of a significant new market for Raytheon and our partners," said Dan Smith, president of Raytheon IDS. "We are committed to providing the best solutions with our core expertise in system engineering and integration, manufacturing, program management, and breakthrough technologies to protect the homeland. We look forward to providing a reliable, affordable, and highly effective portal screening system that will guard our nation against illicit threats."
Raytheon will provide prime program management, engineering development, manufacturing, field support and research and development for future systems improvements. BTI is a company with a global reputation in nuclear physics. All work on the portals will be performed at IDS's SHINGO award-winning Integrated Air Defense Center, Andover, Mass.
Advanced spectroscopic portals are panel-like devices that contain detectors used to screen people, cars, trucks and containers for illicit radioactive materials at some of the more than 600 ports of entry into the United States. This new generation of portals is needed to improve discrimination between innocent and threat materials, which will reduce the number of false alarms compared to the first generation of screening portals currently in place.
The ASP program will join Project Athena as key elements of IDS homeland security initiatives. Project Athena, an open architecture information fusion system that enables multi-domain situational awareness, has been successfully fielded and demonstrated in operational environments.
Integrated Defense Systems is Raytheon's leader in Joint Battlespace Integration providing affordable, integrated solutions to a strong international and domestic customer base, including the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. armed forces.
Raytheon Company, 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.
Contact:
Guy Shields
978.858.5246
