PARSIPPANY, N.J., December 10, 2003. DRS Optronics, a unit od DRS Technologies, located in Palm Bay and Melbourne, Florida, has been rated fully compliant at Level 2 with the Software Engineering Institute's (SEI) Capability Maturity Model (CMM). The CMM rating increasingly is being used as a prerequisite and a key evaluation factor for the acquisition of military programs with significant software content.

The Level 2 rating confirms that DRS Optronics has established an effective, well-defined software development process that meets all of the requirements for providing software products for Department of Defense mission-critical applications.

"This achievement is a key milestone for the Electro-Optical Systems Group, confirming our capability to fully support the military's transformational requirements for next-generation software applications," said Fred L. Marion, president of DRS's Electro-Optical Systems Group.

The company's conformance to the Level 2 Key Process Areas prescribed by the SEI CMM Software Capability Evaluation (SCE) was evaluated, and DRS Optronics was found to meet or exceed all of the capabilities needed for a Level 2 rating. The evaluation was conducted by a team led by Jackie L. Lawrence, an SEI lead evaluator from Integrated Systems Diagnostics, Inc., based in Pocasset, Massachusetts.

The Capability Maturity Model was originally developed by the Software Engineering Institute of Carnegie-Mellon University. It requires a process-based approach to the development of software, including systems engineering, software engineering and project management. CMM has become the de-facto international standard for measuring the capability of an organization to effectively develop software.

DRS Optronics is a leader in electro-optical system technologies that support the transformational efforts and vision of the military to meet strategic responsiveness and dominance goals across a spectrum of requirements. As a leading producer of night vision sighting, targeting and fire control systems for critical front-line U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps platforms, weapons and soldier systems, DRS Optronics excels in the production and support of high-performance thermal imaging systems, far target locator systems and advanced sensors for a variety of air and land applications.

The unit's experience in forward looking infrared (FLIR) imaging technology for armored and reconnaissance vehicles, weapons fire control and missile launch systems, attack helicopters and soldier systems allows such platforms as the Abrams Main Battle Tank, Bradley Fighting Vehicle, long-range mobile surveillance Scout and Kiowa Warrior helicopter to detect, identify and engage tactical targets, while dramatically increasing target acquisition performance, operational stand-off ranges and troop survivability.

Earlier this year, DRS's Optronics unit was certified by the internationally accredited registrar NSF - International Strategic Registrations Ltd. to be fully compliant with ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System Standard requirements.

DRS Technologies, headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, provides leading edge products and services to defense, government intelligence and commercial customers. Focused on defense technology, DRS develops and manufactures a broad range of mission critical systems. The company employs 5,700 people worldwide.

For more information, visit www.drs.com

Military & Aerospace Electronics