Fibersense Technology Corporation Plays Significant Role in Success of Missile Defense Test Flight.

Business/Technology Editors

CANTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 8, 2001

Fibersense Technology Corporation designs and produces the fiber optic gyroscopes (FOGs) and Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) that are critical to navigation systems in airplanes, satellites, missiles, and other vehicles. One of the Company's FOG based IMUs was used to guide the intercept or kill vehicle in the successful test of the Ground-based Midcourse Segment (GMDS) program (formerly known as the National Missile Defense program) in mid-July. "This test was the first time that the intercept vehicle flew with Fibersense's FOG technology. Clearly, this is a major success for the program and for Fibersense. We are very pleased with the performance of our technology and believe that this is just the beginning of a much broader adoption of FOG technology" commented Don Bramley, Fibersense's President and CEO.

Steven F. Kaplan, a Managing Director at Audax Group and Fibersense's Chairman, commented that "Our diligence indicated that this is a technology whose time has arrived. The success of the recent test flight clearly supports our hypothesis."

Fibersense is the sole supplier of FOG based inertial navigation technology on several major aerospace programs, including the intercept vehicle for GMDS, the ATFLIR weapons guidance and aiming system for the Navy's F/A-18s, and the Atlas V launch vehicle program for BAE SYSTEMS and Lockheed Martin. "These are exciting times for our company. While many companies are downsizing, we are expanding at a tremendous pace as the performance of our technology is recognized in the marketplace" stated Don Bramley.

Fiber Optic Gyroscopes, or FOGs, typically replace mechanical and other older technology gyroscopes. A FOG has no moving parts, unlike most traditional gyroscopes, and has a much longer life span. "The technology has really come of age over the past several years as fiber and electronics technologies have advanced. We are able to provide a simple, high performance, elegant technological solution in demanding environments and achieve excellent results," stated Joe Bresman, one of Fibersense's original founders and EVP of Technology. "FOG's are generally more accurate, more reliable, and lower cost than other technologies," commented Mike Perlmutter, Fibersense's other founder and EVP of Business Development and Program Management. The technology is currently under test or deployed in guidance and stabilization systems in a wide array of applications.

About Fibersense

Fibersense Technology Corporation, (www.fibersense.com) is a fast growing company that designs, develops and manufactures fiber optic gyroscopes and related navigation systems, primarily for aerospace and vehicle guidance. Founded in 1993, the Company was a friendly spin-off from Northrop Grumman. The company is profiled in the August 7, 2001 Boston Globe available at the (www.boston.com) site. In July 2000, Audax Group, (www.audaxgroup.com) a Boston based private equity firm founded by Geoff Rehnert and Marc Wolpow in late 1999, committed $20 million of capital to the company to support future growth and the development of scale manufacturing capabilities.