DRS begins production on the U.S. Navy's first COTS-based Aegis display workstation.

PARSIPPANY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 12, 1995-- Diagnostic/Retrieval Systems Inc. (ASE: DRS.A, DRS.B) announced Wednesday that, with the delivery of two engineering development models to the U.S. Navy, it is transitioning from the engineering development phase and entering the production phase on the AN/UYQ-65 Data Processing and Display Set program.

The AN/UYQ-65 systems will be used in support of testing U.S. Navy workstation applications on board an operational destroyer.

The AN/UYQ-65 program was awarded to the company by the Naval Sea Systems Command in May, 1991. A total of 148 production units will be manufactured under this contract.

The AN/UYQ-65 Data Processing and Display Set is the Navy's first totally Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS)-based workstation, which is compliant with the stringent environmental requirements of the DDG-51 Aegis shipbuilding program. It fully supports the Navy's Joint Maritime Command Information System/Unified Build (JMCIS/UB) program for TAC-3 and TAC-4 software applications. The AN/UYQ-65 also is the first COTS production workstation that will be installed on ships as part of the AN/SQQ-89 ASW Combat System.

The development of the AN/UYQ-65 was accomplished under the direction of the Navy's Program Executive Office for Undersea Warfare. Its design is compliant with the Open Systems Architecture Initiative, which mandates the use of existing, state-of-the-art commercial computer technology and promotes software portability as a priority in Navy systems. This approach to system design is expected to result in decreased product acquisition costs, decreased system upgrade costs and reduced time for delivering products to the fleet.

A high-performance, high-resolution, dual-monitor, multiprocessor, color raster display workstation, the AN/UYQ-65 is capable of supporting both tactical graphics and acoustic sensor display formats. Designed to replace tactical and acoustic sensor displays in the AN/SQQ-89 ASW Combat System, the AN/UYQ-65 utilizes a modern, open-system architecture with two VME backplanes, dual processors, a UNIX/POSIX-compliant operating system with X-Windows for graphics and a Motif window manager for ease in operator control. The AN/UYQ-65 production baseline hosts the Navy's Sonar In-Situ Mode Assessment System II (SIMAS II), which uses in-situ and real-time data to model and predict sonar sensor performance. In its SIMAS II configuration, the AN/UYQ-65 has over 20 spare VME slots available for other applications. SIMAS II systems will be installed on all DDG-51 Aegis destroyers, CG-47 Aegis cruisers and DD-963 Spruance class ships.

The AN/UYQ-65 is capable of displaying and hosting many of the Navy's new workstation applications, including the Tactical Data Support System (TDSS), MSTRAP (torpedo alertment), Active Intercept System (AIS), Bistatics, On-Board Trainer, EC-16, EC-84 and the AN/SQS-56 upgrade. In addition, any application developed in a DTC-2, TAC-3 or TAC-4 environment will port readily into the AN/UYQ-65.

Mark S. Newman, president and chief executive officer of DRS, issued the following statement: "We are extremely pleased about the transition from engineering development on the AN/UYQ-65 workstation to the production phase on this important program -- one of the most significant in the history of the company. This accomplishment positions DRS in the forefront of the industry as an innovator in the development of display workstation technology."

DRS will hold a press conference regarding this announcement today at 10:30 a.m. in booth 2602 at the U.S. Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Systems and Technology Exposition, which is being held in the Sheraton Washington Hotel, 2660 Woodley Road in Washington, D.C.

DRS designs and manufactures display, sensor, data storage, trainer and electro-optical systems for military and industrial applications. The company also provides technical services and support to a broad range of customers.

CONTACT: Diagnostic/Retrieval Systems Inc.

Patricia M. Williamson, 201/898-1500, Ext. 6025