WASHINGTON, 25 March 2008. Barco Federal Systems (BFS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Barco, will provide rugged display technology for the Common Display System (CDS) Remote Displays program of the U.S. Navy. BFS was selected by prime contractor DRS C3 Systems LLC in Gaithersburg, Md. Both companies will collaborate to develop 40-inch and 65-inch Remote Displays to be used for collaborative decision-making inside the Combat Information Center rooms and ship bridges and other spaces within the U.S. Navy DDG-1000 platform.

The contract is part of a cost-plus-award-fee program, which for Barco holds a total value of $28 million over an extended period of time.

With the CDS Remote Displays program, the U.S. Navy establishes a family of displays that can be implemented on virtually any Navy surface ship, providing a common interface to the Navy's Platform Open Architecture Computing Environment.

Remote displays are network-based rugged displays used to provide collaborative viewing at different locations of the platform, facilitating decentralized decision making. CDS is designed to meet standard interfaces with a COTS business model to ensure minimized life cycle costs, interoperability, and the ability to support updates to the latest technologies. CDS systems have an intended service life of 30 years. The CDS Remote Displays are intended for operator collaboration and situational awareness.

Mike Forde, VP of Barco Federal Systems, comments: "Winning this program provides us with a new set of solutions for the U.S. Navy and for a variety of needs worldwide. Providing Remote Displays for collaborative decision making or situational awareness that support a networked enterprise is now a reality."

The DRS/Barco team will develop 40-inch and 65-inch rugged displays with integrated computing modules, which will perform local processing as needed. Each display can be mounted on nearly any shipboard bulkhead location and will accept analog, digital, and internet protocol signals, with multiple inputs for each. The CDS displays also provide a robust capability to meet the Navy's current and future needs for open systems, security features and cost effectiveness.

The first unit deliveries are expected in 2Q2008.