U.S. Air Force Purchases SWANTECH Systems for Monitoring Minimally Attended Radar Stations.

Business Editors/Technology Writers

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 22, 2002

SWANview(TM) Portable Systems to Monitor Mechanical Condition of

FPS-117 Stations in Alaska and Canada

SWANTECH, LLC today announced that the U.S. Air Force Ogden Air Logistics Center (OO-ALC) purchased SWANview(TM) Portable Systems for mechanical condition monitoring of FPS - 117 minimally attended radar stations, formerly known as Distant Early Warning (DEW) radar stations, located in Alaska and Canada. SWANview Portable Systems were selected based upon demonstration results and the success of similar deployments by the Federal Aviation Administration on ASR - 9 radar control towers.

Hill Air Force Base, located in northern Utah, is an Air Force Material Command base and the home to many operational and support missions, with the Ogden Air Logistics Center serving as the host organization. In addition to providing worldwide engineering, logistics management and depot maintenance for a variety of aircraft, missiles and munitions, the center provides a full range of sustainment and logistics support for space and command, control, communication and intelligence systems. The center is also distinguished as the Air Force Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence (CITE) for low-observable (`stealth') structural composite materials and provides support for the B-2 Spirit multi-role bomber.

SWANview Portable Systems were purchased by the Ogden Air Logistics Center for use as a predictive maintenance tool for minimally attended radar systems. According to Gary Peterson, Mechanical Engineer, Logistics Center Engineering, Atmospheric Early Warning Systems, "SWANview Portables were selected for monitoring the mechanical condition of the radar drive systems because SWAN(TM) technology is able to monitor large, slow moving apparatus effectively." Peterson added that the decision was based, in part, on the success of the technology in FAA ASR - 9 applications.

SWAN technology stands for Stress Wave Analysis, a patented instrumentation technique based upon ultrasonic sound waves that is used in predictive maintenance systems. The technology identifies and measures shock and friction events that occur between contact surfaces. By measuring shock and friction events, SWAN detects mechanical fatigue and the location of potential damage at the earliest possible stages when events are small in magnitude, while also trending the progression of a defect over time to predict machine failure. SWAN technology can also accurately locate, identify, and measure potential damage within a machine, discriminating between components.

According to Joseph E. Carpenter, Jr., President and CEO of SWANTECH, "SWAN technology is an effective maintenance tool for monitoring the condition of large, slow moving machinery such as in radar equipment. We are very pleased to be working with the U.S. Air Force and to once again demonstrate the effectiveness of our technology for prognostic equipment maintenance."

SWANTECH is dedicated to the innovation, design and development of diagnostic tools that detect and measure even slight shock and friction events that occur between contact surfaces in operating machinery. SWANTECH delivers the power of precise machine condition information with patented Stress Wave Analysis (SWAN(TM)) technology. SWAN detects Stress Wave Energy and enables the separation of these high-frequency stress waves from the much lower frequency range of operating machinery vibration and audible noise. This process detects flaws and problems well before other technologies including vibration and lubrication analysis and provides prognostic condition monitoring solutions that enable users to intervene before secondary damage or catastrophic failure occurs. SWANTECH solutions contribute to a lower total cost of operation and a greater return on assets managed.