UPDATE 1-Raytheon wins $442 mln US missile defense contract

WASHINGTON Oct 31 (Reuters) - Raytheon Co (RTN.N) has won a contract valued at up to $442 million to develop and test a new multiple kill vehicle payload for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, the Pentagon said on Friday.

Work on the contract would be completed by December 2011, the U.S. Defense Department said in its daily digest of major defense contracts.

The idea is to develop a large rocket that carries a missile interceptor loaded with multiple projectiles that could be deployed against enemy missiles.

The Bush administration has spent tens of billions of dollars to develop a multilayered shield against possible missile attacks, but one persistent concern has been how to discern real missiles from harmless decoys.

The multiple kill vehicle project is aimed at ensuring that all such missiles would be destroyed.

The Pentagon has also been working with Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) on a similar project, but decided during development of its fiscal 2008 budget to begin parallel work with Waltham, Massachusetts-based Raytheon to give it more flexibility. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa)