The U.S. Air Force awarded Raytheon an $11.5 million contract to enhance the Weather Data Analysis (WDA) system.

The modernized system is expected to deliver significant efficiencies and improve weather forecast analysis capabilities, enabling warfighters to make critical mission decisions.

“Enhancing WDA will deliver advanced capabilities to the Air Force, enabling the Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) to process and disseminate data from next generation meteorological satellites more efficiently, significantly reducing sustainment costs," said James Olson, Director of Space and Environmental Mission Solutions for Raytheon's Intelligence and Information Systems business.

The contract will upgrade the current meteorological satellite capability and legacy systems at AFWA, improving the agency's analysis capabilities. Modernizing the system with new hardware and open source database and application servers will expand the weather center's shared data environment, allowing the agency to maximize and distribute data collected by next generation weather satellites, including Suomi NPP and JPSS-1 and 2.

WDA is central to AFWA's global system architecture and is a major weather data and product contributor to the Air Force Weather enterprise. Enhancements delivered under Increment 4, Build B will provide a net-centric infrastructure capable of assimilating global sources of weather data to produce real-time information to warfighters. Through greater interoperability with command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, warfighters will gain access to critical environmental and situational awareness intelligence, enhancing their competitive advantage in the battlespace.

In March 2003, under contract to the U.S. Air Force, Raytheon developed the initial WDA capabilities on the Increment 2 program. Subsequently, Raytheon completed Increment 3 and Increment 4, Build A to expand the system's capabilities. With the latest contract, Raytheon will leverage 40 years of expertise and proven performance in collecting, analyzing and delivering critical, actionable weather information to support mission success.