Mercury Systems Inc (MRCY)

[Carolyn]

Mercury Computer Systems Selected by Air Force Research Laboratory for Automatic Target Recognition Research


CHELMSFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 18, 2001--

Mercury Delivers Market's Most Advanced, Scalable, Embedded Systems

to the Department of Defense's High Performance Computing

Modernization Program

Photo available: http://www.mc.com/pressroom/imagelibrary/powerstream/index.html

Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRCY), a leading provider of embedded real-time digital signal and image processing systems, announced today that it has been selected by the Air Force Research Laboratory, Sensors Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio to supply two of the recently announced RACE++(TM) PowerStream(TM) 510 systems as part of the Department of Defense's (DoD) High Performance Computing Modernization Program. Among the most powerful signal processing systems in the world, the PowerStream 510 systems will be used to advance target recognition research by decreasing the time from development to deployment of embedded applications. The contract is valued at $2.2 million.

"Developing algorithms for automated target recognition is of critical importance to the mission of the DoD," said Gregory Powers, Director of the Air Force Research Laboratory/SN Distributed Center. "Mercury's scalable, embedded systems equip us with the computing power necessary to fully test algorithms in a deployable multiprocessor system, ultimately benefiting the warfighter by recognizing and classifying targets."

Within the DoD's High Performance Computing Modernization Program, the Air Force Research Laboratory, Sensors Directorate will use Mercury's high-performance, real-time signal processing systems to develop the algorithms for recognizing unique target characteristics. Fusing the information from radio frequency and electro-optical sensors will improve the reliability of the target and threat identification process, while providing improved awareness of the situation within the battlespace.

Mercury's PowerStream 510 systems represent the most advanced, scalable, embedded systems in the market. A single PowerStream 510 system can scale up to 180 "G4" processors in a single chassis, providing peak performance of .5 teraFLOPS of computing power. With 8.5 gigabytes per second of bisection communication bandwidth, which is more than four times that available for standard RACE++ VME systems, the PowerStream 510 is ideal for the most demanding radar and signals intelligence applications.

"Mercury Computer Systems enables the DoD to maintain its leadership position at the forefront of technology," said Vince Mancuso, vice president and general manager of Mercury's Government Electronics Group. "Our systems are playing a vital role in automatic target recognition research - analysis that used to take hours to calculate can be performed by Mercury's systems in minutes. Because our systems are often used in forward deployment with our armed forces, critical information will be available for the warfighter within the theater of operations. In addition, we're improving time to market, helping the DoD reduce costs and providing Mercury with an expanded market opportunity in defense applications."