Benthos Receives $771,000 Order for Geophysical Systems.

Business/Technology Editors

NORTH FALMOUTH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 19, 2001

BENTHOS, INC. (NASDAQ: BTHS) announced today that it has been awarded a $771,000 contract to provide side scan sonar systems to the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVO) for performing hydrographic surveys. This contract represents a continuation of a four-year program under which NAVO has purchased 19 systems since May of 1998. The initial contract was awarded to Datasonics, Inc. which was acquired by Benthos in August of 1999.

The latest contract, for four full side scan sonar systems plus spares and consumables, is in addition to an earlier one awarded to Benthos in March of 2001 for $296,000, bringing the total to $1.1 million in geophysical orders received from NAVO this year. Thus far, the cumulative total of the four-year contract awards is $3.7 million.

Benthos recently added "Chirp" sonar capabilities to these systems that allow for greater ranges and higher resolution imaging than can be obtained using conventional side scan sonars. NAVO has a fleet of large and small vessels with these systems installed that allow for quick deployments around the world.

Hydrographic survey launches are used by NAVO to support virtually every type of fleet operation. The Benthos SIS1501/1502 Seafloor Imaging Systems are fully integrated, dual frequency side scan sonars that use advanced digital signal processing hardware and software to produce high-resolution images of the bottom topography.

Benthos, Inc., through its Undersea Systems Division, designs, manufactures, sells and services a variety of oceanographic products for underwater tasks; and through its TapTone Container Inspection Systems Division makes systems for testing consumer packages made of glass, metal or plastic. The common stock of the Company is traded on the Nasdaq SmallCap market under the symbol BTHS. For more information, Benthos can be found on the Internet at www.benthos.com.

Forward Looking Statements

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