The UEWR radar expands early warning radar capability to support space surveillance, missile warning and missile defense requirements. Courtesy of Raytheon

Waltham, MA, USA - March 24, 2011

The completion of the upgrade of the Early Warning Radar (EWR) at Thule, Greenland, marks the third successful upgrade Raytheon has completed under the Upgraded Early Warning Radar (UEWR) program.

The previous two upgrades occurred on radars located at Beale Air Force Base, Beale, Calif., and Royal Air Force Fylingdales, United Kingdom.

Raytheon develops and produces the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of proven radars across the land domain. From air traffic control, to tactical battlefield radars to large missile defense radars, Raytheon's systems are always ready to defend and protect our citizens, homeland, deployed forces and allies. Courtesy of Raytheon

Work on the Thule upgrade began in 2006, and the construction phase of the program was completed in 2008.
During the next two years, Raytheon installed hardware and software to the system and conducted testing to evaluate the readiness of the radar to perform its expanded mission for missile defense.

The AN/TPY-2 radar is the world’s most advanced radar and is a critical component to the new Phased Adaptive Approach to Ballistic Missile Defense. Courtesy of Raytheon

Raytheon leveraged the knowledge and experience from the previous upgrades and drew upon the more than 70-year heritage of building large, highly reliable, phased-array radars to complete the upgrade on time and under budget.


The UEWR Mission


The UEWR covers three primary missions for multiple customers:

• Space object surveillance.

• Missile early warning.

• Missile defense.

The radar provides the United States Strategic Command and Air Force Space Command Space Surveillance Network with satellite surveillance and radar space object identification.

These radars detect more than half the objects in the entire space catalog within a 24-hour period.

For the missile early warning mission, the UEWR provides early detection and precise tracking of incoming ballistic missiles, as well as quick, accurate determination of threat versus non-threat objects.

The Upgraded Early Warning Radar is a critical component in the Ballistic Missile Defense System. Courtesy of Raytheon

Finally, the UEWR is a key sensor for the Missile Defense Agency’s Ballistic Missile Defense System, supporting the intercept of threatening ballistic missiles above the atmosphere and well away from their intended targets while concurrently performing the early warning mission.


Future of the Program


Two EWRs remain to be upgraded to this new configuration: the radar at Clear Air Force Base, Clear, Alaska, and Cape Cod Air Force Station, Cape Cod, Mass.

The competition for the upgrade at Clear will occur later in 2011, and it is expected that the Cod radar will be upgraded in the near future. However, an exact date for the upgrade has not been released.

Raytheon has successfully upgraded three radars under this UEWR configuration and will draw on the experience and lessons learned from those upgrades and its 70-year heritage in radar development for all future upgrades, including the Clear radar later this year.


Source: Raytheon Company

http://www.raytheon.com/newsroom/feature/rtn11_mws2/index.html  



William H. Swanson

Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Raytheon Company

William H. Swanson Photo courtesy of Raytheon

William H. Swanson is Chairman and CEO of Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN).
Raytheon Company, with 2010 sales of $25 billion, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world.
With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 72,000 people worldwide.

Before adding the responsibilities of chairman to his position in January 2004, Swanson was CEO and president of the company.
Prior to that, he was president of the company, responsible for Raytheon’s government and defense operations.

Swanson joined Raytheon in 1972 and has held a wide range of leadership positions, including manufacturing manager of the company’s largest operation, senior vice president and general manager of the Missile Systems Division, general manager of Raytheon Electronic Systems, president of Electronic Systems, and chairman and chief executive officer of Raytheon Systems Company.

In addition to his professional accomplishments, Swanson is a member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation board, the California Polytechnic State University President’s Cabinet, the Cal Poly Foundation board of directors, and the NextEra Energy, Inc. board of directors.
He is vice chairperson of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation board of directors, and chairman of the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF).
He currently serves as honorary chair of MATHCOUNTS®.

He is a member of the board of governors’ executive committee of the Aerospace Industries Association and is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

He serves as a member of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), the Air Force Association, the Association of the United States Army and the Navy League.
He is a member of the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation board of advisors and of the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee.

A native of California, Swanson graduated magna cum laude from California Polytechnic State University with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering.

His graduate work was performed in business administration at Golden Gate University.

He has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Pepperdine University and an honorary Doctor of Science degree from California Polytechnic State University.

He was selected as the Outstanding Industrial Engineering Graduate in 1972, and in 1991 was recognized as the Honored Alumnus from California Polytechnic State University School of Engineering.

Swanson has received the Semper Fidelis Award from the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation and the “Aviation Week & Space Technology” Laurel Award for “significant contributions” to the field of aeronautics/propulsion.

He was also named the “California Manufacturer of the Year” by the California Manufacturing & Technology Association and a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (United Kingdom).

He has received the Navy League Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Award, the NDIA James Forrestal Industry Leadership Award, the John W. Dixon Award from the Association of the United States Army, a Diversity Best Practices CEO Diversity Leadership Award, the Institute of Industrial Engineers’ Captains of Industry Award, the Six Sigma Premier Leader Award from the International Society of Six Sigma Professionals, a Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship, and the Kennedy Greenway Vision Award.


Source: Raytheon Company

http://www.raytheon.com/ourcompany/leadership/  



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