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[October 2000]
Ceradyne, Inc. Awarded $2.3 Million in U.S. Government Research and Development Contracts for Military Ceramic Armor Systems and Microwave Ceramics
Ceradyne, Inc. announced that it has recently received four Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts covering a two year period and valued at $2.3 million. These awards were made by the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy and are for:
Development of lightweight ceramic armor for military vehicles Development of Ceradyne's Aluminum Nitride compositions for microwave and linear accelerator applications
Lightweight Ceramic Armor: Ceradyne has developed a multi-hit modular ceramic armor system for military vehicles, (RAMTECHTM) (Ceradyne Patent Pending) and is in a development program involving a unique ceramic armor system for the U.S. Marine's Advanced Amphibious Armored Vehicle (AAAV).
Phase 1 conceptual concepts were demonstrated by Ceradyne's Dr. James Shih and as a result, the Tank Automotive Command (TACOM) and the U.S. Marine Corps have provided additional funding to the Company for further development and testing.
Microwave Absorbing Ceramic: Ceradyne has developed a very stable ceramic based on its Aluminum Nitride technology (Ceradyne Patent Pending) that can be "tuned" to absorb specific microwave energy frequencies. The applications for these ceramics are in Traveling Wave Tubes used in such activities as satellite communications as well as in cryogenic uses in sub-atomic particle accelerators. Based on the promising results achieved by Ceradyne's scientist Dr. Biljana Mikijelj, the U.S. Office of Naval Research and the Department of Energy have granted the Company additional funding for further development and commercialisation.
"Ceradyne's commitment to research in order to develop new products and bring them to market is demonstrated through the Government's funding of Phase II programs based on Phase I results. Additionally, all of the above R&D programs are in areas where Ceradyne has established itself as a proven supplier over many years. We believe these areas of lightweight ceramic armor for military personnel and military vehicles as well as microwave absorbing ceramics will continue to grow," stated Joel P. Moskowitz, Ceradyne's Chief Executive Officer.
Ceradyne, Inc. is a manufacturer of advanced technical ceramics for consumer, industrial, defense, satellite communications and automotive applications. Additional information about the Company can be found at www.ceradyne.com.
ENDS