High-performance computers advance mine-detection research; Mercury Computer Systems, and Army Research Lab Participate in demonstration of ground-penetrating radar.

CHELMSFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 19, 1996--Mercury Computer Systems, Inc., a leading supplier of embedded computers for the military, announced today that its RACE(R) computers were used in a Jan. 18, 1996, demonstration of ground penetrating radar.

The demonstration, carried out at the US Army Proving Ground in Yuma, Ariz., tested a method of detecting objects buried in the ground.

Researchers at the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) have succeeded in developing mathematical algorithms that show promise for detecting targets even though they are surrounded by "clutter" within foliage or underground. The system includes the use of state-of-the-art Ultra-Wide Band (UWB), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) for real-time data collection, and advanced Analog-to-Digital (A/D) converter technology for feeding the large amount of data to commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) Mercury computers for storage and analysis.

As a result of these tests, the ARL expects to collect data and perfect algorithms, which will eventually lead to the efficient detection of military equipment hidden by foliage, as well as underground objects such as cables, pipes and land mines. Mercury's scalable RACE(R) technology that allowed high speed transfers of data played an important role in this test. The use of Mercury's technology dramatically reduced data processing from two to four hours down to two to four minutes.

"While this is clearly a research project and the developers at ARL are some way from creating an all-purpose mine detection system, the test in Yuma is a major milestone in a global effort to eradicate mines," said James R. Bertelli, CEO and president of Mercury. "The United Nations has estimated that there are over 100 million mines in 64 countries, maiming thousands of people every year. With developments like this, we hope the next time US troops go to a war zone we will have better means of keeping them safe."

The ARL research began in 1988 to determine the feasibility of using the latest technologies to develop a detection system that could "see" through ground and foliage cover. Based on the technology available at that time, the ARL scientists assembled an Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) system to support foliage penetration (FOPEN) and ground penetration (GPEN) research.

Originally, the early systems could not collect and process data quickly enough to be effective, and with low transmission-power and slow data-transfer rates, they required as much as 50 hours to collect and process the radar signals. Along with significant advances in radar and A/D technologies, Mercury's RACE(R) computers provided real-time data collection and processing, significantly improving the system's overall performance.

"I congratulate Mercury Computer Systems for their efforts to help the ARL team develop an effective foliage and ground penetrating radar system for mine detection," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sub Committee on Technology. "It is important that our troops have access to the most advanced and effective methods of mine detection. Moreover, it is important that the US continues to assist those countries with large numbers of uncleared, unexploded land mines so that these hidden killers do not continue to plague the people of these countries."

Timothy Connolly, Principal Assistant Deputy Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict, stressed the need for the development of an efficient and cost-effective mine detection system. "Kuwait is the only country which solved its land mine detection by spending hundreds of millions of dollars on private de-mining. This, obviously, is not going to be the case in places like Cambodia," said Secretary Connolly.

Mercury has a history of successfully supporting complex military projects which have had "rapid development" as a principle measure of success. Since Mercury's RACE(R) systems are designed to be open and scalable, users have the ability to configure their systems in a variety of topologies with large numbers of different types of processors and high-performance I/O devices.

Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. is a technology company specializing in application-specific signal processing solutions for diverse markets ranging from defense and security to medical diagnostic and commercial image processing. Mercury's RACE(R) series, with its building block approach to hardware and software, allows customers to build the most effective system for their application. The company's advanced interconnect fabric, RACEway Interlink, was recently adopted as an ANSI standard. Mercury Computer Systems, inc. is headquartered in Chelmsford and has offices throughout North America, Asia and Europe. With more than 30,000 units installed worldwide, Mercury serves customers in 14 countries.

Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. on WWW: http://www.mc.com

CONTACT: Mercury Computer Systems Inc.

Leigh McLeod, 508/256-1300

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Coltrin & Associates

Krystyna Stachowiak, 212/221-1616