Houston, Texas, 14 July 2006. Vmetro Inc. has announced receipt of a contract to supply Vortex Data Recording systems to support Lockheed Martin's work with the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (Aegis BMD) Weapon System.

The Data Recording systems are based on Vmetro's Vortex VME Open Data Recording platform and include playback of the recorded data over 10Gb Ethernet.

The Vortex system will be incorporated into Lockheed Martin's instrumentation and test plan for the Aegis BMD Signal Processor (BSP). The Aegis BSP, in development, will be installed in Aegis BMD ships beginning in 2010.

Vmetro's Applications Group will develop application-specific software for the record and playback requirements. This initial contract is valued at approximately $600,000 with additional systems expected over the course of the multi-year program.

The Aegis Weapon System is the world's premier naval surface defense system and is the foundation for Aegis BMD, the primary component of the sea-based element of the United States' Ballistic Missile Defense System.

The Aegis Weapon System is currently deployed on 80 ships around the globe with more than 25 additional ships planned or under contract.