DRS Technologies Awarded New Contract to Produce Ground Replay System for U.K. Royal Air Force.

Business Editors

PARSIPPANY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 28, 2001

DRS Technologies, Inc. (AMEX: DRS) announced today that it has received a contract to produce ground support equipment that will optimize the analysis of flight video data for the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force.

For this $3.4 million award, received from the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence, DRS will provide a Displayed Data Video Recorder (DDVR) Ground Replay Facility (GRF) to analyze the missions of the Tornado F-3 Air Defence Variant (ADV) aircraft. Work for this contract will be accomplished by the company's DRS Hadland unit located in Tring, Hertfordshire, in the United Kingdom.

Recognized for ruggedness, portability and compact size, this system has been designed for worldwide operations with a minimal amount of operator training required. For this application, the DDVR GRF will replay cockpit audio and video data from five multiplexed input sources via standard video cassettes.

"This award expands our business base with the Royal Air Force and enhances our position on the Tri-National Tornado contract as the incumbent supplier for the combined cockpit voice recorder and data entry device," said Mark S. Newman, DRS Technologies' chairman, president and chief executive officer. "With more than 40 years of experience in the design and manufacture of systems used for high-speed image capture and data analysis, DRS is well-qualified to deliver a superior system for this program."

The DDVR GRF is built using replaceable modules that maximize the use of Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components. De-multiplexed data from the GRF are displayed using a Graphical User Interface (GUI) in a multiple window environment. All displays can be fed to separate flat panels for mission debriefing sessions. Data stored on hard drives are automatically encrypted at power down to secure information.

Built by Panavia Aircraft GmbH, a German-Italian-U.K. conglomerate, the Tornado F-3 ADV is an all-weather, multi-mission combat aircraft and is considered the U.K.'s first line of defense. Capable of long-range interdiction, defense suppression, tactical reconnaissance and long-range air defense, it is equipped with Skyflash radar guided missiles and AIM-9L Sidewinder infrared homing air-to-air missiles. Its in-service operation includes the Royal Saudi Air Force and the Italian Air Force, as well as the U.K. Royal Air Force. Upgrades to the fleet have enabled information sharing with intelligence gathering aircraft, providing air crew with a high level of situational awareness.

DRS Technologies provides leading edge products and services to government and commercial customers worldwide. Focused on defense electronics, the company develops and manufactures a broad range of mission critical systems and components in the areas of communications, combat systems, rugged computers, electro-optics, data storage, digital imaging, flight safety and space.

Additional information is available on the company's web site at www.drs.com.