ORBITAL RECEIVES PRODUCTION CONTRACT FOR ITS NEW AIRBORNE VIDEO SOLID-STATE RECORDER
Company's Fairchild Defense Division's AVSR Unit to be Used by U.S. Department of Defense as the First CAIS-Compatible Solid-State Instrumentation Recorder
(Dulles, VA 19 June 2000) - Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) announced today that its Fairchild Defense division, a leading supplier of sophisticated avionics systems for high-performance military aircraft, has received a production contract for its new Airborne Video Solid-State Recorder (AVSRTM) from Teletronics Technology Corporation (TTC). TTC will use Orbital's AVSR as the first Common Airborne Instrumentation System (CAIS) compatible instrumentation recorder. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has established the CAIS platform as its standard to facilitate commonality and interoperability among its test and evaluation facilities. The CAIS architecture adopted by DoD is already being applied to advanced military aircraft under development, including the F/A-18E/F, F-22 and Joint Strike Fighter. Financial terms of the contract were not announced by Orbital.
Originally developed for the F-22 aircraft program, Orbital designed the solid-state AVSR as a replacement for trouble-prone tape-based recorders that previously had been the standard in the industry. The AVSR consists of an aircraft-resident receptacle and a small, removable and lightweight solid-state memory cartridge, which is fully interoperable with the F-22's memory cartridge.
The highly reliable AVSR contains no moving parts and is able to record four channels of video and two channels of audio. Playback of the video on the ground is accomplished with a simple interface with a standard personal computer. In addition, multiple aircraft crews can debrief at the same time by connecting their memory cartridges to the same computer.
The open system architecture of the AVSR enables users to configure the recorder based on their application. TTC, who will be the system integrator, will manufacture a mezzanine board for the AVSR that will enable the recorder to communicate on the standard CAIS bus and record aircraft PCM data.
The software that enables the playback of the video on the ground will be furnished by Veridian Systems, a division of Veridian, which will integrate Orbital's current software program into its own COTS OMEGA/NT 3000 software. Veridian's software is fully integrated with the OMEGA-IES system that is used by the U.S. Navy for its next generation software.
TTC is the leading manufacturer of airborne data acquisition systems in the world. To learn more about TTC, please visit their web site at http://www.ttcdas.com
Veridian Systems is a division of Veridian offering systems and software solutions for a wide range of test and data acquisition applications. To learn more about Veridian Systems, please visit their web site at http://www.veridiansystems.com
Orbital's Fairchild Defense division manages the development, production, integration and testing of a wide array of advanced electronics and avionics systems for use in military aircraft, helicopters and land vehicles, and is a leading supplier of airborne solid-state memory devices for military applications throughout the world. To learn more about Orbital's Fairchild Defense division, please the Defense Electronics section of Orbital's corporate web site at http://www.orbital.com/FairchildDefense
Orbital is one of the largest space technology and satellite services companies in the world, with 1999 total enterprise revenues (including revenues from its unconsolidated affiliates) of over $913 million. The company, which is headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, employs about 5,500 people at major facilities in the United States, Canada and several overseas locations. Orbital is the world's leading manufacturer of low-cost space systems, including satellites, launch vehicles, electronics and sensors, satellite ground systems and related digital infrastructure. Its Magellan subsidiary is a pioneer in satellite-based navigation and communications products for consumer and industrial markets. Through its ORBCOMM and ORBIMAGE affiliates and ORBNAV subsidiary, Orbital is also a major operator of satellite-based networks that provide data communications, high-resolution imagery and automotive information services to customers all around the world.
Contact: Barron Beneski, 7034065000, beneski.barron@orbital.com
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