Mumbai: Raytheon Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of US defence major Raytheon Company, has signed a $1.2 billion (A$1.4 billion) contract with the Australian government for the design, development and procurement of a customised air warfare destroyer (AWD) phase III system for the Australian defence forces.

Representatives of the Australian government, Raytheon Australia and ASC Shipbuilding signed the contract for the AWD Alliance, signaling the start of building Australia''s air warfare destroyers (AWD) phase III.

The AWD Alliance will work together as an integrated team to deliver the Royal Australian Navy''s (RAN) next generation Hobart Class AWD. Raytheon Australia, which is the AWD mission systems integrator, will `Australianise'' the combat system around the Aegis core.

"Today''s milestone is about our commitment to deliver ''no doubt'' mission assurance to the RAN through Raytheon''s expertise as a mission systems integrator," Ron Fisher, managing director of Raytheon Australia, said.

"We''ve prepared well in the earlier phases, and today marks the moment when the alliance begins building Australia''s most advanced ships," he added.

The AWDs will provide air defence for accompanying ships, land forces and infrastructure in proximate coastal areas and for self-protection against attacking missiles and aircraft.

Raytheon Australia was selected for the AWD Alliance in April 2005 and will continue to partner with Australian industry over the life of the project.

Raytheon Australia, with an engineering and technical workforce of some 1,300 and access to the global resources of the $20 billion Raytheon Company, is a technology leader specialising in defence, homeland security and other government markets.

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 73,000 people worldwide.