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Raytheon Co., the world's largest missile maker, said it's trying to fix problems with an experimental heat-ray weapon to keep the device on schedule for a field test in Iraq early next year.

Raytheon's new weapon, which is intended to repel hostile forces by creating a sensation of intense heat on skin, doesn't act quickly enough to be effective, said U.S. Marine Corps Col. Wade Hall, who directs the program that would test the device. Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon is working to resolve the issue, company spokesman Alan Fischer said.

The so-called "active denial" system was developed by Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems.

Missing the deadline would delay Raytheon's opportunity to prove the weapon in the field. The device is scheduled to be installed on three Stryker transports headed to Iraq next year as part of a test of a range of new technologies. If the problem isn't fixed, the Pentagon will have to decide in the next few months whether to include it, Hall said.

"The guys at the front wanted this system the day before yesterday," said Daniel Goure, vice president of the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based policy research group. "Things that were pushed for emergency wartime needs may not find a home in the peacetime system."

The weapon, which is intended for crowd control because it doesn't kill or permanently harm people, projects an energy beam to induce an intolerable sensation of heating. The energy penetrates less than 1/64 of an inch into the skin and the sensation ceases when the target moves out of the beam.

The weapon is a smaller, lighter version of a weapon Raytheon developed under a $60 million technology demonstration contract that began in 2002. Those demonstrations have so far shown the larger system is "safe and effective and has tremendous potential," said Susan LeVine, deputy director for policy and resources for the U.S. Defense Department's Joint Nonlethal Weapons Directorate.

Once testing concludes next year, the military will decide whether to further pursue the technology.

Hall declined to provide details on how quickly the smaller Raytheon system works, or how fast it needs to act to be effective. Raytheon's Fischer said the company's contract prevents it from disclosing such details.

"We recognize our customer's concerns, and we are currently working closely with them to find a way to improve the system to meet their needs," he said last week. "We hope and plan to be able accomplish this in a timely manner."

Installation of new technology on Strykers, including other nonlethal weapons such as acoustic devices and dazzling lights, will begin in a few months and be complete by year-end, Hall said. Early next year the vehicles will be delivered to troops to give them time to study them before heading into the field.

"The primary quality I'm concerned with is timeliness," Hall said. "We need to get these capabilities to the war fighter as quickly and safely as possible. I set some pretty hard timelines. I don't let things drag out for many months."

Raytheon shares rose 2 cents to $45.74 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading today. The stock is up 16 percent in the past year.