CHELSMFORD, Mass., Aug. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY) announced that it was selected by the Remote Sensing Applications Center of the U.S.D.A. Forest Service to support two wildfire monitoring and forest mapping projects in 2007 with the VistaNav(TM)- SSR Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). The Remote Sensing Applications Center, located in Salt Lake City , Utah, provides technical assistance to agency field units using advanced geospatial technology for improved monitoring and mapping of natural resources.
The VistaNav-SSR (Smart Surveillance and Reconnaissance) system is a complete, high-performance UAS that includes a ground control station integrated with 3D Synthetic Vision and a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The system features miniaturized airborne and mission computing image processing capabilities designed to improve control and command functions, increase situational awareness, and integrate ground-imaging computations for aerial remote sensing applications such as oil and gas pipeline monitoring, border surveillance, forest fire detection and monitoring, precision agriculture, and more.
"Wildfire operations can be very costly in terms of equipment and personnel, especially higher-risk night operations," said Sally Collins , Associate Forest Service Chief, Forest Service . "Together with Mercury, the Forest Service will employ VistaNav-SSR unmanned aircraft systems to help in providing precise imagery and actionable intelligence to Incident Command Teams leading to significantly safer tactics in fighting wildfires."
"We are very pleased to be selected by the Forest Service for these projects, and to demonstrate an affordable solution that provides valuable imagery to help the Incident Command Team leaders decide on the most effective assignments for direct fire-suppressant resources," said Philippe Roy, General Manager of the Avionics and Unmanned Systems Group at Mercury Computer Systems. "Flying above fire at night can be dangerous for manned aircraft, and low-level manned aircraft flights are not currently utilized for safety reasons. Unmanned aircraft systems can fly long missions, survey wildfire sites at low altitude, and transmit critical data to enable more informed decisions more quickly."
Mercury is demonstrating the VistaNav-SSR at AUVSI's Unmanned Systems North America 2007 conference, August 7-9, at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit Mercury in Booth #729, visit www.mc.com/ssr, or contact Mercury at (978) 967-1769.
Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. - Where Challenges Drive Innovation
Mercury Computer Systems is the leading provider of computing systems and software for data-intensive applications that include image processing, signal processing, and visualization. With a strong commitment to innovation, our expertise in algorithm optimization, systems development, and silicon design is blended with software application knowledge and industry-standard technologies to solve unique computing challenges. We work closely with our customers to architect solutions that have a meaningful impact on everyday life: detecting aneurysms; designing safer, more fuel-efficient aircraft; identifying security threats; discovering oil; developing new drugs; and visualizing virtually every aspect of scientific investigation.
Mercury's comprehensive, purpose-built solutions capture, process, and present data for the world's largest medical imaging companies, 8 of the 10 top defense prime contractors, and other leading Fortune 500 and mid-market companies in semiconductor, energy, telecommunications, and other industries. Our dedication to performance excellence and collaborative innovation continues a 24-year history in enabling customers to stay at the forefront of the markets they serve.
Mercury is based in Chelmsford, Massachusetts and serves customers worldwide through a broad network of direct sales offices, subsidiaries, and distributors. We are listed on the Nasdaq National Market (NASDAQ: MRCY). Visit Mercury at www.mc.com.
Forward-Looking Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including those relating to the VistaNav-SSR unmanned aircraft system. You can identify these statements by our use of the words "may," "will," "should," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "continue," "estimate," "project," "intend," and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic and business conditions, including unforeseen weakness in the Company's markets, effects of continued geo- political unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, delays in completing engineering and manufacturing programs, changes in customer order patterns, changes in product mix, continued success in technological advances and delivering technological innovations, continued funding of defense programs, the timing of such funding, changes in the U.S. Government's interpretation of federal procurement rules and regulations, market acceptance of the Company's products, shortages in components, production delays due to performance quality issues with outsourced components, inability to fully realize the expected benefits from acquisitions or delays in realizing such benefits, challenges in integrating acquired businesses and achieving anticipated synergies, and difficulties in retaining key customers. These risks and uncertainties also include such additional risk factors as are discussed in the Company's recent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2006 . The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made.
Contacts: Philippe Roy, General Manager Leigh McLeod, Media Relations Avionics and Unmanned Systems Corporate Marketing Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. 978-761-9429 / [email protected] 978-967-1120 / [email protected] Kathy Sniezek, Public Relations Manager Corporate Marketing Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. 978-967-1126 / [email protected]VistaNav is a trademark of Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
SOURCE Mercury Computer Systems, Inc.
