TUCSON, AZ, 07-JAN-04 --

The Irish Department of Defence has publicly acknowledged its selection of Javelin for Ireland's medium range anti-tank guided weapon requirement. The Irish government signed its Letter of Agreement with the U.S. government for the procurement of Javelin earlier this year for approximately $12.5 million.

This selection marks the Raytheon/Lockheed Martin Javelin Joint Venture's first sale to a neutral, non-aligned nation that has actively supported numerous United Nations peacekeeping operations throughout the world. To date, seven international customers have selected Javelin.

The United States government is extremely pleased that the Irish Department of Defence selected Javelin after conducting its extensive and thorough assessment of all candidate systems, said Col. Lloyd McDaniels, U.S. Army Close Combat Weapon Systems project manager. The Irish Department of Defence is known for its expertise in selecting the best equipment for its forces regardless of its nation of origin. Ireland's selection, as well as Javelin's performance in worldwide combat operations, validates Javelin's position as the world's most advanced medium range anti-tank system.

Javelin provides the Irish Defence Forces with a highly effective means of deterrence for its soldiers in front-line peacekeeping missions, said Michael Crisp, president, Javelin Joint Venture. Javelin allows a single soldier to defeat all known armored vehicles and also provides pin-point accuracy against a wide variety of alternate targets. The Javelin Joint Venture is proud that Ireland judged Javelin as the best system to meets its operational requirements.

Ireland's detailed evaluation process included assessments of whole life costs and worldwide supportability. Javelin's high reliability, worldwide support and very low operational and maintenance costs were key factors in our selection, said Howard Weaver, Javelin Joint Venture vice president.

Raytheon Company provides system engineering management and support for the Javelin Joint Venture and produces the command launch unit, missile guidance electronic unit and system software. Work is performed primarily at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Ariz., and at other Raytheon facilities in Texas, Massachusetts and California.

Lockheed Martin provides missile engineering and production support for the Javelin Joint Venture in Orlando, Fla., produces the missile seeker in Ocala, Fla., and performs missile all-up-round assembly in Troy, Ala.

The Javelin medium-range, anti-tank missile system is the world's first one man-transportable and employable fire-and-forget anti-armor missile system. It saw extensive use by U.S. and allied soldiers, Marines and Special Forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Javelin is approved for international sales through the U.S. Army's Foreign Military Sales system and is available to meet national requirements for next-generation anti-armor weapon systems.

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), with 2002 sales of $16.8 billion, is an industry leader in defense, government and commercial electronics, space, information technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs more than 76,000 people worldwide.