Raytheon Company has been awarded two U.S. Army contract modifications worth $18.2 million to provide Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) for Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment, or RAID, systems that protect U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq.

The first award, valued at $13.2 million, expands the current CLS contract to support an additional 41 RAID and nine Eagle Eye elevated sensor systems being delivered through February 2008 as part of the RAID production contract. The second contract, valued at $5 million, calls for additional spares to support the RAID aerostats currently in operation in Iraq. Work on both contracts will be performed by Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems at the Integrated Air Defense Center, Andover, Mass., and the Warfighter Protection Center, Huntsville, Ala.

Raytheon first developed RAID to meet the military’s increasingly critical need for persistent surveillance in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. RAID consists of infrared sensor systems and ground-based motion detection radars, elevated on a stationary platform, capable of detecting hostile troop and equipment movement at great distances. This capability enables U.S. and coalition forces to respond rapidly to threatening situations.