United Defense, Sarnoff Sign Agreement on See-Through Turret Visualization for Military Ground Vehicles.Business Editors YORK, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 17, 2003 United Defense Obtains Rights for Government Ground Vehicle Use, Will Fund Further Development; Sarnoff Licenses Multiple Patents to United Defense United Defense Industries, Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :UDI (1) (Unified Display Interface) A digital interface from the United Display Interface SIG that is designed to replace the analog VGA interface common on CRTs and flat panel monitors. UDI is expected to provide backward compatibility with DVI and HDMI interfaces. ) and Sarnoff Corporation have signed an agreement granting United Defense rights in the field of government military vehicles to an image processing technology, called See-Through Turret Visualization (STTV STTV Straits Times (newspaper) Television (Singapore) ), that gives military personnel a 360-degree view around a vehicle under closed hatches. Under the agreement, Sarnoff licenses multiple patents and revisions to United Defense. The agreement extends the current cooperative effort between United Defense, a designer, developer and manufacturer of ground combat vehicles and other military hardware and services, and Sarnoff, a Princeton, NJ-based developer of innovative technology for commercial and government clients. "Operation Iraqi Freedom made it clear that technology gives our troops an edge on the battlefield while increasing survivability sur·viv·a·ble adj. 1. Capable of surviving: survivable organisms in a hostile environment. 2. That can be survived: a survivable, but very serious, illness. ," said Ashley Wells, United Defense's STTV Project Manager. "This agreement pools the talents of two leading companies to put world-class situational awareness technology into military ground vehicles. STTV provides a solution that significantly improves situational awareness on the battlefield." The two companies first demonstrated STTV last October at the Association of the U.S. Army's 2003 Annual Meeting and Symposium in Washington, D.C. An enhanced version was installed on United Defense's Hybrid-Electric Drive Transformation Technology Demonstrator (TTD TTD - Telecommunications Device for the Deaf ) and shown in February at AUSA's Winter Symposium in Florida. STTV uses an on-board computer to blend video images from eight cameras into a seamless panoramic view of the surrounding area. A helmet-mounted monocular monocular /mon·oc·u·lar/ (mon-ok´u-ler) 1. pertaining to or having only one eye. 2. having only one eyepiece, as in a microscope. mo·noc·u·lar adj. 1. video display with a head tracking system lets each soldier see the appropriate image for a given head position. Wearers can choose to see 225 degrees of visibility forward or 135 degrees to the rear, greatly improving their ability to respond to threats from any direction. STTV can give every soldier in a vehicle the ability to see what lies ahead and behind, providing the same view of the outside environment, allowing a coordinated response to threats. Under the agreement, the two companies plan to develop more sophisticated STTV systems with enhanced capabilities, such as hemispherical viewing. United Defense and Sarnoff will also explore making the STTV smaller by implementing its computing functions in a field-programmable gate array (hardware) field-programmable gate array - (FPGA) A gate array where the logic network can be programmed into the device after its manufacture. An FPGA consists of an array of logic elements, either gates or lookup table RAMs, flip-flops and programmable interconnect wiring. (FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) A type of gate array that is programmed in the field rather than in a semiconductor fab. Containing up to hundreds of thousands of gates, there are a variety of FPGA architectures on the market. ) configuration. About United Defense Industries, Inc. United Defense designs, develops and produces combat vehicles, artillery, naval guns, missile launchers and precision munitions mu·ni·tion n. War materiel, especially weapons and ammunition. Often used in the plural. tr.v. mu·ni·tioned, mu·ni·tion·ing, mu·ni·tions To supply with munitions. used by the U.S. Department of Defense and allies worldwide, and provides non nuclear ship repair, modernization and conversion to the U.S. Navy and other U.S. Government agencies. About Sarnoff Sarnoff Corporation (www.sarnoff.com) produces innovations in electronic, biomedical bi·o·med·i·cal adj. 1. Of or relating to biomedicine. 2. Of, relating to, or involving biological, medical, and physical sciences. and information technology that generate successful new products and services for clients worldwide. Founded in 1942 as RCA See RCA connector and video/TV history. Laboratories, it develops breakthroughs in ICs, lasers, and imagers; drug discovery, manufacture and delivery; digital TV and video for security, surveillance, and entertainment; high-performance networking; and wireless communications. Sarnoff is a subsidiary of SRI International. Forward Looking Statements Information in this release may involve guidance, expectations, beliefs, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future. These forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. All forward looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to United Defense Industries, Inc., as of the date of the release, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward looking statements. The statements in this release are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Numerous factors could cause or contribute to such differences. Please refer to the Company's Annual Report on form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. for the year ended December 31, 2002, the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2003, and other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a further discussion of the factors and risks associated with our business. |
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