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Lockheed Martin and Bantu Join Forces to Deliver Secure Enterprise Instant Messaging to the U.S. Air Force

OWEGO, NY and WASHINGTON, DC, April 15th, 2003 -- Lockheed Martin Corporation and Bantu today announced that the U.S. Air Force has purchased an enterprise-wide license for the Bantu Instant Messaging (IM) and Presence Platform through Lockheed Martin's Global Combat Support System - Air Force (GCSS-AF) Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) federal government contract. The Bantu instant messaging technology will be used to improve real-time communications and increase efficiency throughout the Air Force. Initial deployment will be to users of the Air Force Portal, a cornerstone of the One Air Force ... One Network vision.

The Air Force is transforming and improving the way the military and civilian staffs work. This includes ensuring they have immediate access to the right contacts from anywhere in the world. The Bantu IM and Presence Platform provides the ability to see who is online throughout the Air Force community, and instantly collaborate with them, will help Air Force personnel remain informed and make better decisions.

"Real-time capability enables a whole new level of collaboration that is critical in today's environment," said Peter Rogers, vice president, Enterprise Solutions at Lockheed Martin Systems Integration - Owego. "The security, flexibility, tight integration and proven large-scale deployments made by Bantu make them ideally suited for the Air Force."

With Bantu's IM and Presence Platform capabilities, commanders deployed to remote locations world-wide can instantly and securely conference with Headquarters' staff; providing immediate feedback and real-time reporting of mission critical information. Already established in the U.S. Department of Defense, the Bantu IM and Presence Platform provides real-time collaboration and presence awareness to the U.S. Army as part of the Army Knowledge Online (AKO) portal and the U.S. Navy's Navy Knowledge Online (NKO) portal.

"The Air Force deployment solidifies Bantu's leading position as the provider of secure Enterprise Instant Messaging to the U.S. Government," said Larry Schlang, president and CEO of Bantu. "By integrating Bantu into enterprise portals and other applications, the government is transforming the way it works, enabling faster decision making and issue resolution."

The U.S. Federal Government can purchase the software through Lockheed Martin on the GCSS-AF ID/IQ contract vehicle F01640-96-D-0004 (http://gcssaf.idiq.com), or contact Bantu directly at (202) 822-3999, info@team.bantu.com.

About Bantu, Inc.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Bantu is the leader in Enterprise Instant Messaging. The Bantu IM and Presence Platform enhance communication and collaboration in industries such as government, telecommunications, education and financial services. Bantu is secure, platform-independent, interoperable, and it easily integrates into any application or service. (http://www.bantu.com)

Nancy Woytek, Lockheed Martin, (607) 751-3378, nancy.woytek@lmco.com
Janice Bedsole, Bantu, Inc., (781) 789-6108, jbedsole@team.bantu.com