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The U.S. Navy's highly successful and effective Phalanx Close-In Weapons system has now been adapted by Raytheon for land-based Army mobile deployment. The new version is named the Centurion Land-Based Phalanx system (LPWS).

Over the course of the U.S. military's presence in Iraq, the characteristics of warfare have evolved with an increased threat from urban attacks. Most significant is the danger of an enemy quickly setting up a mortar tube, firing a handful of rounds and disappearing into the urban environment. Centurion was first deployed in Iraq in mid-2005. It represents a new approach to countering insurgent activities by intercepting rockets, artillery and mortar rounds in the air before impact, reducing or eliminating damage.

The Centurion system constantly monitors for incoming projectiles with an advanced search and track Ku-band radar featuring closed-loop spotting technology. The system identifies incoming threats, targets them, and fires explosive 20mm shells at a rate of up to 75 per second. Centurion systems in Iraq have successfully proved their ability to provide land-based protection, eliminating nearly eighty percent of the rockets and mortar shells fired within range of its cannon, an area up to four kilometers wide. In addition, Centurion is part of a protection and alert system that provides an audible warning that an attack is underway, thereby allowing people to quickly react and protect themselves.

To ensure high efficiency threat detection and reliable quick-response capability, Raytheon developed sophisticated operator consoles, called Local Control Stations, as part of the Centurion system. These utilize RGB Spectrum's state-of-the-art RGB/View™ 8000 multi-image display processors.

The compact RGB/View™ 8000 multiple window display processor is ideally suited for the console's limited space. It combines high resolution computer and Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) video inputs in real-time. The FLIR provides multi-spectral thermal detecting and target tracking. The computer presents graphical information, including a range table, target-acquisition imagery, weapons control and ordnance data, and system status information. The RGB/View processor combines the two signals. The console's display windows can be resized, repositioned, zoomed, and panned as desired by the operator.

The RGB/View 8000 offers a unique benefit to the Centurion system with its ability to produce progressive scan video from the FLIR video camera with superb image quality. Advanced de-interlacing technique provides excellent vertical resolution and motion characteristics. The processor gives console operators the ability to superimpose critical computer data over the thermal images.

According to Raytheon representatives, the Centurion LPWS provides high-value asset protection with immediate situational awareness, real-time targeting, precision threat elimination and kill assessment. The deployment of the Centurion and its ability to defeat rocket, artillery and mortar threats changes the face of security operations in urban settings.

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), with 2007 sales of $21.3 billion, is a technology leader specializing in defense, 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, MA, Raytheon employs 72,000 people worldwide.