NASA has selected a team led by Raytheon Company to develop enhancements to the system-wide modeling and simulation capability in the Airspace Concepts Evaluation System, or ACES. The plug and play models will help NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and other researchers better understand the tools and concepts needed to support the impacts of NextGen on the National Airspace System. Simulations will increase efficiency by evaluating and analyzing new concepts for future air traffic management operations. "Raytheon innovation is propelling industry efforts to deliver the NextGen solutions that modernize and transform the National Air Space," said Andy Zogg, vice president of Raytheon Network Centric Systems Command and Control Systems. "Our partnership with NASA will lead to transformational results that accelerate the benefits of increased safety and maximized airspace capacity." ACES is NASA's real-time computer simulation tool that analyzes local, regional and nationwide factors that contribute to the dynamics of aircraft operations from gate departures and flight paths to landings and gate arrivals. The result is a flexible environment for researchers to identify and test new NextGen air traffic management concepts. The total contract value of this competitively bid, cost-plus-fixed-fee award is $29.1 million. The Raytheon team includes Intelligent Automation Inc., Sensis Corporation, Mosaic ATM, Aerospace Computing Inc. and PDA Associates. The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) is the Federal Aviation Administration's plan to modernize the National Airspace System (NAS) through 2025. Through NextGen, the FAA is addressing the impact of air traffic growth by increasing NAS capacity and efficiency while simultaneously improving safety, reducing environmental impacts, and increasing user access to the NAS. To achieve its NextGen goals, the FAA is implementing new Performance-Based Navigation routes and procedures that leverage emerging technologies and aircraft navigation capabilities. For more information, visit: www.raytheon.com