Boeing is to join Raytheon to offer the Royal Saudi Air Force a new and comprehensive command-and-control system as part of the service's modernization program.

The partnering agreement was announced by Raytheon earlier this week at an international defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

"Raytheon intends to build on our long and proven history in the successful development and global deployment of command and control systems by providing the best C5I solution to our Royal Saudi Air Force customer," said Bob Delorge, vice president, Raytheon C4I Systems. "Boeing's system of systems and platform experience is a strong complement to our highly capable technologies and proven performance."

Added Paul Geery, vice president, Boeing C3 solutions: "Boeing has enjoyed a partnership with Saudi Arabia for nearly 70 years, so working with Raytheon to modernize the RSAF's command-and-control capability is important to us.

"This agreement brings two of the world's leading defense systems providers together to provide a world-class command-and-control system in support of the RSAF's growing fleet of state-of-the-art aircraft, including the F-15SA."

C5I is the acronym for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber and Intelligence.

Raytheon said it plans to offer the Saudis a tailored version of its C5I systems approach, based on its Command View Mission Solutions -- a suite of integrated and interoperable command-and-control capabilities.

Pursuit of the Saudi work will be led by ThalesRaytheonSystems, a joint venture between Raytheon and Thales, and Raytheon Atheeb Systems Limited, the Raytheon and Atheeb Group joint venture in Saudi Arabia.