SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - 19 May 2008: Greg Combet, the Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement officially opened Raytheon Australia’s Engineering Centre of Excellence today at Macquarie Park, Sydney.

The facility is home to 160 Raytheon Australia employees, two thirds of whom are engineers applying their expertise to important defence projects for Australia’s military. The opening is an important milestone for Raytheon Australia. “This Engineering Centre of Excellence has a dual role for the company. It is the home room for systems engineering and systems integration for our naval, aerospace and land business. It is also the Sydney node for the Air Warfare Destroyer Systems Centre” said Ron Fisher Managing Director Raytheon Australia.

Demonstrating its real time linkages to the Adelaide AWD Systems Centre hub, Raytheon Australia showcased its capability and capacity for future growth to senior customers and political leaders.

“I am proud of our efforts over the last nine years in growing our engineering capability from a handful of people to be one of Australia’s largest defence companies and the leading mission systems integrator”, said Mr Fisher. “We care about our people and we care about the outcomes for our customer. Our Engineering Centre of Excellence is tangible evidence of our commitment to invest in Australia, our growth as a company and our continued delivery of systems that the men and women of the Australian Defence Force rely on to defend our national interests” he said.

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With facilities located across the country, Raytheon Australia is a highly capable prime contractor with an engineering and technical workforce of 1300 backed by world-class management and quality systems. This local presence is bolstered by strong relationships with small and medium sized enterprises and access to the global resources of Raytheon Company.

Raytheon Company, with 2007 sales of $21.3 billion, is a technology leader specializing in defence, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 86 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.