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W. Windsor firm will put radar testing device to test
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
By TRACEY L. REGAN
Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR - Mikros Systems Corp., a wireless technology company, said it will soon test its credit-card-size device for testing and maintaining radar and sonar systems on U.S. Navy ships.
"We are building about five systems to place on ships," said Thomas Meaney, president and CEO of the Alexander Road company, noting that the first ships to use them will be the Navy's Aegis cruisers.
The equipment will be tested on land this spring and, about a year from now, at sea. It will perform such diagnostic tests as determining whether radar systems are out of alignment.
The company was awarded a small business research grant last September from the Naval Weapons Center in Dahlgren, Va. - valued at approximately $2.4 million - to complete the development and begin initial production of the testing system.
Meaney described the equipment, which is a small printed circuit card just slightly larger than a credit card, as "a compact way to lug around a lot of testing equipment."
People testing equipment now have to carry "a lot of paper documentation and we're building it all into the computer," he said. "It will prompt the operator."
Mikros Systems has subcontracted the manufacturing of its equipment, to be marketed under the name ADEPT (Adaptive Diagnostic Electronic Portable Testset), to DRS Laurel Technologies in Johnstown, Pa.
Ships will use anywhere from one to three of the devices, Meaney said, adding, "We haven't figured out what they will cost yet."
He added that there are 80 ships equipped with Aegis systems, which are built by Lockheed Martin in Moorestown, and another 60 to 70 amphibious carriers that could potentially use the equipment.
Meaney said the device has commercial applications as well, and could be used to test commercial radars and other complex electronic equipment such as radio and TV stations, cell phone stations and airline maintenance equipment.
"We are hoping to get the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), radio stations and TV to use them as testing devices," he said.
Last year, the company teamed with DRS Technologies of Parsippany to win a $100,000 contract from the U.S. Navy to develop a technology that would allow military radar systems to coexist with commercial wireless communications systems.
Current radar systems create interference with commercial TV signals when they come into port, requiring navy vessels to turn them off at times.
The company reported revenues for the year ended Dec. 31 of approximately $1 million with net income of approximately $92,000, compared to $231,000 in revenues in 2003 with a net loss of approximately $114,000.
Mikros currently has about $2 million in back orders |
