Arizona Daily Star February 28, 2008
Raytheon gets lift by downing dying satellite
Shoot-down shows Congress, and rest of the world, that missile system works
By Jack Gillum
Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems garnered worldwide attention last week when one of its missiles delivered a knockout punch to a dying U.S. spy satellite.
The successful shoot-down by a Raytheon Standard Missile may not only give the company a boost, but may also tamp down criticism of the controversial U.S. missile-defense program, experts said.
The Standard Missile-3, launched Feb. 20 from a Navy cruiser, flew to more than 150 miles above the Pacific Ocean, striking a fuel tank containing toxic hydrazine on the satellite. The SM-3, which is designed to take out ballistic missiles as part of a sea-based missile-defense system, obliterated the satellite just above the atmosphere.
"It's certainly a clear indication that we have a technology that works," said Paul Nisbet, a Raytheon analyst with Newport, R.I.-based JSA Research Inc. He said this was the first time an anti-intercontinental ballistic missile system was used to take out a satellite — "and it worked very well."
The SM-3 was modified specifically for the shoot-down, said Raytheon, which was assisted by the company's sea-based X-band radar. Its success "demonstrated some degree of confidence" that a missile-defense program works, said John E. Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org in Alexandria, Va.
A Raytheon spokesman said he could not comment on the Standard Missile, citing a request by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.
The SM-3 is part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, which is designed to intercept incoming ballistic missiles. The ship-based system is under development for the United States and Japan, with other allied nations participating in some studies.
The shoot-down took place in the same month that Raytheon was awarded a four-year, $1 billion contract for providing 75 SM-3 Block IA missiles to the United States. The contract, through February 2012, equates to roughly $250 million per year and represents about 5 percent of Raytheon Missile Systems' fiscal 2007 net sales of about $5 billion.
Last week's shot also has worldwide implications: Just two months ago, Japan successfully tested an SM-3 against a ballistic missile. But China protested the recent U.S. launch, although China itself shot down one of its own satellites a year ago.
This month's shot gives the missile-defense system support "both technologically and politically," Nisbet said, "because it's very difficult for the anti-weapons people in the Congress to say this thing doesn't work and that we shouldn't be wasting our money on it."
Henry Cooper, the Pentagon's "Star Wars" chief in the early 1990s, told The Associated Press that the SM-3 outcome bodes well for the Navy and its share in missile defense. "It's definitely a boost for the Navy program because everybody is made aware of the flexibility and perhaps even the reliability" of the program.
But some groups, including the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the shoot-down "will undermine efforts to protect the future use of space and ultimately weaken U.S. security."
In its Jan. 31 earnings report, Raytheon partly attributed strong fourth-quarter sales to Standard Missile sales. The company reported fourth-quarter 2007 net sales of $1.36 billion, up from about $1.32 billion during the same quarter in 2006.
Raytheon is Southern Arizona's largest employer, with about 12,500 Tucson-area workers at the end of 2007.
© Copyright 2008, Arizona Daily Star
