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Jul 13, 2009 at 12:00 AM EDT

Mercury Computer Systems Announces $2.7 Million Production Order from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems for Predator UAS Upgrade

Mercury Computer Systems Announces $2.7 Million Production Order from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems for Predator UAS Upgrade

Mercury reaches 11-year milestone in providing the high-performance signal processing capability for the most combat-proven UAS in the world



CHELMSFORD, Mass., July 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRCY) (www.mc.com), a leading provider of embedded computing systems and software for image, sensor, and signal processing applications, announced it received a $2.7 million production order from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI, www.ga-asi.com) to provide RACE++ Series rugged computing modules for the Predator unmanned aircraft system (UAS) Lynx Block 20 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology upgrade.

Since 1998, Mercury has continued to provide its scalable RACE Series and RACE++ Series computing modules and software to enable high-performance signal processing for multiple generations of GA-ASI's Lynx SAR product line. The Lynx family of SAR reconnaissance and surveillance systems, along with Mercury's signal processing modules, are installed on a variety of Predator series UAS. As the most combat-proven unmanned aircraft system in the world, the Predator UAS provides continuous and persistent armed reconnaissance and battlefield support to ground troops.

The Lynx Block 20 radar upgrade is an extension of a production run requested by the U.S. Air Force and will bring the number of signal processing computing modules that Mercury has provided to GA-ASI to more than one thousand.

"GA-ASI's world-class family of Lynx SAR systems and Predator UAS continues to be deployed extensively on reconnaissance and surveillance missions, bringing all-weather, very-high-resolution imagery to the warfighter. The picture-quality imagery provided by the Lynx radar would not be possible without Mercury's reliable, scalable, high-performance computing modules and interconnect technology," said Brian Hoerl, Vice President of Worldwide Sales for Advanced Computing Solutions at Mercury. Our processor upgrades enable the Lynx radar to continue to give the warfighter leading-edge performance within the current size, weight, and power constraints of the UAS. This is yet another demonstration of how our technology road map has enabled customers to seamlessly upgrade their system performance and accelerate their embedded computing applications."

For more information on Mercury's comprehensive, cost-effective image, sensor, and signal processing solutions, visit www.mc.com, or contact Mercury at (866) 627-6951 or info@mc.com.

About GA-ASI

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., an affiliate of General Atomics, delivers situational awareness through providing unmanned aircraft, radar, and electro-optic solutions for military and commercial applications worldwide. The company's Aircraft Systems Group is a leading designer and manufacturer of proven, reliable unmanned aircraft systems, including Predator A, Predator B, Sky Warrior , and the new Predator C Avenger . It also manufactures a variety of solid-state digital ground control stations (GCSs), including the next-generation Advanced Cockpit GCS, and provides pilot training and support services for UAS field operations. The Reconnaissance Systems Group designs, manufactures, and integrates the Lynx SAR/GMTI radar and sophisticated CLAW sensor control and image analysis software into both manned and unmanned aircraft. It also integrates other sensor and communication equipment into manned ISR aircraft and develops emerging technologies in solid-state lasers, electro-optic sensors, and ultra-wideband data links for government applications. For more information, please visit www.ga-asi.com.

Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. - Where Challenges Drive Innovation™

Mercury Computer Systems (Nasdaq: MRCY) (www.mc.com) provides embedded computing systems and software that combine image, signal, and sensor processing with information management for data-intensive applications. With deep expertise in optimizing algorithms and software and in leveraging industry-standard technologies, we work closely with customers to architect comprehensive, purpose-built solutions that capture, process, and present data for defense electronics, homeland security, and other computationally challenging commercial markets. Our dedication to performance excellence and collaborative innovation continues a 25-year history in enabling customers to gain the competitive advantage they need 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.

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 production order from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. 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, 2008. 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.

Predator, Lynx, Sky Warrior, Avenger, and CLAW and are registered trademarks of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. Challenges Drive Innovation is a trademark, and RACE Series and RACE++ are registered trademarks of Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. Other product and company names may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

    Contact:
    Kathleen Sniezek, Public Relations Manager
    Mercury Computer Systems, Inc.
    978-967-1126 / ksniezek@mc.com

SOURCE Mercury Computer Systems, Inc.
 07/13/2009
/CONTACT: Kathleen Sniezek, Public Relations Manager,
Mercury Computer Systems, Inc., +1-978-967-1126,
ksniezek@mc.com/
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