MARLBORO, Mass., (April 30, 2002) -- Raytheon Company has completed the first phase of a NASA Ames Research Center task to create a modeling and simulation capability to support National Airspace System (NAS)-wide analyses of advanced air traffic management tools and concepts. Under this and other task orders on NASA's Air Traffic Management System Development and Integration (ATMSDI) contract, Raytheon is leading a team of industry and academic experts working with NASA to address the long term goals of safely improving the air transportation system capacity.

The purpose of this development effort is to provide a "plug and play" modeling and simulation system that will allow NASA and the FAA to assess and validate advanced concepts for safely improving capacity within the future NAS environment. During this first phase, system requirements were developed and a proof of concept prototype of the simulation and modeling system was demonstrated. "The prototype demonstration and requirements generation were significant accomplishments given the demanding timeframe. The team now intends to complete the development and increase the capabilities within the system framework," said Ed Stevens, Raytheon's ATMSDI program manager. "When all phases are complete, NASA will have the capability to insert new models as they are developed and assess and validate new and modified concepts in air traffic management."

The products to be developed under this task order include a NAS-wide framework with models and tools to validate advanced concepts that will be developed within NASA's Virtual Airspace Modeling and Simulation and Advanced Air Transportation Technologies projects. A comprehensive and flexible modeling approach will enable these tools to be used to assess the air traffic management concepts needed to increase capacity and efficiency.

The Raytheon-led team for the Modeling and Simulation Capability includes Seagull Technology of Los Gatos, Calif., SAIC of Arlington, Va., and Intelligent Automation, Inc of Rockville, Md., as well as Metron; Booz-Allen & Hamilton Inc; Titan SRC, SCATS and representation from major universities and airlines.

NASA and Raytheon, under the ATMSDI contract, continue the development of new concepts, technology and tools for collaborative decision making (CDM), airspace modeling and design, flight deck systems, aviation human factors, complex airspace management, airline operations center systems, and air/ground air traffic control automation.

With headquarters in Lexington, Mass., Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), is a global technology leader in defense, government and commercial electronics, and business and special mission aircraft.

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