Hughes and Raytheon will jointly develop a missile.

The aerospace firms announced a partnership to compete for the Navy’s advanced air-to-air missile. The Navy issued a request for proposals on March 20 for a demonstration validation phase of the new missile, which will be a long-range, high-speed missile to replace the Phoenix missile carried on the F-14 fighter. Under the agreement, Hughes and Raytheon will take equal shares in the program, and McDonnell Douglas will act as a subcontractor on the team. Last December, General Dynamics’ Pomona division and Westinghouse announced that they also were forming a team to pursue the program. In another development, Raytheon was awarded a $3.5-billion contract to provide the Army with 4,491 Patriot anti-aircraft missiles over the next five years.