TUCSON, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. company Raytheon has won $150 million more in orders for its Paveway precision-guided munitions.
Raytheon said in a statement Tuesday that it had been "awarded more than $150 million worth of contracts in December for the combat-proven Paveway family of precision-guided munitions."
"The latest figures bring the total Paveway year-to-date bookings for 2007 to more than $300 million, a record for Raytheon's Paveway program," the company said.
"The contracts are a combination of direct commercial sales and foreign military sales and will provide customers in Europe and Asia with the Enhanced Paveway II -- EP2 -- and the EP3 variants of the Paveway weapon system, which upgrade 'dumb bombs' into precision-guided munitions," Raytheon said.
"Paveway provides our valued international partners a reliable, affordable and combat-proven family of weapons that can be easily integrated into the customer's inventory," said Harry Schulte, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems' Strike Weapons product line.
"Both the EP2 and EP3 give our customers the capability to precisely strike a hardened target in any weather, thanks to the weapon's dual-mode GPS/laser-guidance system," Schulte said.
Raytheon Co. said it had 2006 sales of $19.7 billion. The company describes itself as "a technology leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world."
"With a history of innovation spanning 85 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," the company said.
Raytheon described its Enhanced Paveway II, or EP2, as "an affordable all-weather dual mode GPS/laser-guided precision munition that has successfully been used in combat by (Britain's) Royal Air Force during Operation Southern Watch, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom."
"Like the EP2, the EP3 is an all-weather dual mode GPS/laser-guided precision weapon. EP3 has improved standoff range compared with the EP2 and is able to penetrate and destroy extremely hardened targets. The EP3 was successfully used in Operation Iraqi Freedom," the company said.
