CHELMSFORD, Mass., 14 July 2009. Mercury Computer Systems Inc., a provider of embedded computing systems and software for image, sensor, and signal processing applications, has received a $2.7 million production order from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) 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 provided 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.

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, says a representative.

"GA-ASI's world-class family of Lynx SAR systems and Predator UAS continue 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.