Canadian 'Eye That Can Fly' From Wescam Inc. Gives The Boot To Soccer Hooliganism At Euro2000.

Business Editors

FLAMBOROUGH, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 22, 2000

Wescam Inc.(TSE:WSC.)

A sophisticated eye in the sky, designed and manufactured by a Canadian company north of Hamilton, Ontario, is helping Dutch and Belgian police on the ground keep the peace at the Euro2000 football championships.

The "eye that can fly" is an advanced camera stabilization and wireless transmission system from Wescam Inc. of Flamborough, Ontario, a firm of 440 employees that markets its wireless visual communications systems around the world. Wescam also has operations in the United States.

Dutch police have installed the Wescam 16DS-M camera and SkypodLC transmission systems on a 65-meter airship that hovers above the stadiums and cities where championship matches are played. Images from the Wescam camera system are transmitted in real time to police at receiving sites on the ground.

"The response by Dutch police to the system's capabilities has been tremendous. They simply cannot believe the high quality images being received," said Mark Chamberlain, Wescam's president and CEO.

The Dutch first learned of the system from Belgian police forces, which already operate four airborne Wescam systems, used for safety purposes. So pleased are the Belgians with the system, that they volunteered to demonstrate it to the Dutch police.

"Euro2000 represents a great win for Canadian technology," notes Mr. Chamberlain. "It is our hope that this demonstration of Wescam equipment will lead to additional procurement opportunities."

In addition to the Wescam units being used for public safety purposes, another two Wescam visual systems are helping European television networks cover the soccer championships.

Wescam has gained an international reputation for technology excellence. Its camera and communications systems are used on a variety of moving platforms, including propeller and jet aircraft, helicopters, in racing cars, ships, on the ground, and elsewhere.

Wescam's visual systems, for example, provide millions of television viewers with a unique view of such major international sporting events as the 2000 Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, the America's Cup yachting competition, and NASCAR and Indy car racing.

Each year, Wescam equipment is used in the production of over 60 Hollywood movies. This has included such blockbuster hits as Titanic, and such current films as U-571, Road Trip, and The Perfect Storm. Its equipment also helps television networks from Canada to Japan gather the news.

Wescam equipment is also employed by NASA on both the space shuttle and during construction of the international space station, as well as by such organizations as the U.S. Coast Guard for safety and surveillance and by different NATO countries in peace keeping operations.

"We live in a world that has an insatiable appetite for visual information, especially images in real-time," said Mr. Chamberlain. "Wescam is helping to meet that demand with first-class technology and growing rapidly as a company in the process. The Euro2000 championships is one more opportunity for Canadians to truly show the world what we can do."

Wescam is a world leader in the design and manufacture of wireless visual information systems, providing real time images as information for a variety of government and commercial customers around the globe. Wescam captures images from moving platforms that range from aircraft, helicopters, airships and the Space Shuttle to racing cars, tracks, boats and cranes, and transmits those images via wireless communication link to the end user. Wescam is traded on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "WSC".