Primagraphics Wins Record US$4.4 Million Order from Alenia Marconi Systems.

Business Editors

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 4, 2002

Primagraphics (www.primagraphics.net), the command & control, video and graphics specialist, has won a record US$4.4 million contract from Alenia Marconi Systems (AMS) to supply radar input and scan converter systems.

Primagraphics' equipment will be integrated by engineers at AMS (Farlington, Portsmouth, England) with the new flat panel displays, processors and software that will be fitted to the command and control consoles on board every one of the British Royal Navy's fleet of Type 42 destroyers. The first ship to be upgraded with the new equipment will be HMS Gloucester.

Alenia Marconi Systems was awarded the latest US$21.5m ADAWS upgrade contract by the U.K. Ministry of Defence in June 2002. The ADAWS (Action Data Automated Weapon System) command and control system is combat proven in anti-air warfare, fighter control, missile direction, naval gunfire support and anti submarine warfare. The new upgraded equipment will provide the Royal Navy with modern color display systems in every console, delivering significantly improved functionality at a substantially reduced maintenance cost.

Commenting on the contract, Frank A. Thompson, senior project manager at AMS, said: "We were extremely impressed by Primagraphics' professional, responsive and flexible approach to this program. Not only did they provide a cost-effective, fully integrated system, the company's support engineers worked in partnership with our team to ensure that the customer qualification process was completely successful."

Primagraphics will be supplying AMS with PCI hardware and software from its established commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) METRO product range including its Advantage Plus PCI radar scan converter and its Virgo PCI radar input card. Shipments will start before the end of 2002 and will be completed by July 2004.

"This is the largest single contract Primagraphics has secured in its history and it is a major boost to have received it during our 20th anniversary year," said John Hunter, marketing director, Primagraphics. "We have come a long way since Roy White (now chairman) and Mike Foxton (now technical director) founded the company in 1982. In two decades, the company has established itself on the international stage and is now selling its systems in every continent on the globe."

Primagraphics is a recognized leader in the development of processing and display systems for military and civil applications. Its systems, for VME, PCI and PMC formats, are in use throughout the world for airborne and shipborne command and control consoles, vessel tracking, air traffic control and air defense systems.

As well as providing a range of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products, Primagraphics designs and manufactures high performance systems to meet specific customer requirements. Founded in 1982, Primagraphics' European headquarters is located at Litlington, near Cambridge, UK. It also has offices in the USA (Charlottesville, VA) and a network of dealers and distributors worldwide.