StockerYale Awarded Specialty Optical Fiber Contract from Northrop Grumman Newport News for Virginia Class Submarines
SALEM, N.H.--Sept. 18, 2007--StockerYale, Inc. (NASDAQ: STKR), a leading designer and manufacturer of structured light lasers, LED modules and specialty optical fibers for industry leading OEMs, today announced a significant contract award for its specialty optical fiber by Northrop Grumman Newport News (NGNN), a sector within the Ships business of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC), for the U.S. Navy's Virginia class submarine fleet.
The fiber will be used for Light Weight Wide Aperture Array (LWWAA) Hydrophone Systems in support of the Virginia class attack submarine program. StockerYale will supply fiber to Northrop Grumman Newport News for the next three submarines to be added to the fleet. Fiber shipments to Northrop Grumman Newport News are expected to begin in September 2007.
"We're excited to partner with world class customers like Northrop
Grumman on critical programs that demonstrate our technical expertise
and ability to produce large quantities of highly-specialized optical
fiber" said Mark Blodgett, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
StockerYale. "Our engineers and scientists worked diligently to
customize a fiber that meets the exact technical and time-sensitive
requirements for the LWWAA program as outlined by Northrop Grumman. We
are pleased to be awarded this important, defense contract."
The US Navy's Virginia class submarines employ LWWAA systems on either side of the hull, which provide sonar sensor input to the submarine's combat system. Northrop Grumman designed, developed and manufactures the key optical sensing elements of the Fiber Optic Acoustic Sensors (FOAS) arrays for the LWWAA system. StockerYale's specialty optical fiber is a key component for NGC's FOAS arrays.
"This is both our first major government contract and largest contract for specialty optical fiber received to date," Blodgett noted. "As we continue to grow our specialty optical fiber business, we will realize strong financial operating leverage from this higher margin, high potential business unit."
About StockerYale
StockerYale, Inc., headquartered in Salem, New Hampshire, is an independent designer and manufacturer of structured light lasers, LED modules, and specialty optical fibers for industry leading OEMs. In addition, the company manufactures fluorescent lighting products and phase masks. The Company serves a wide range of markets including the machine vision, industrial inspection, defense, telecommunication, sensors, and medical markets. StockerYale has offices and subsidiaries in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. For more information about StockerYale and their innovative products, visit the Company's web site at www.stockeryale.com.
About Northrop Grumman Corporation
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $30 billion global defense and
technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems,
products, and solutions in information and services, electronics,
aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers
worldwide.
For more than a century, Northrop Grumman Newport News has designed,
built, overhauled and repaired a wide variety of ships for the US Navy
and commercial customers. Today, Newport News is the nation's sole
designer, builder and refueler of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers
and one of only two companies capable of designing and building
nuclear-powered submarines. The company also provides after-market
services for a wide array of naval and commercial vessels. For more
information about Northrop Grumman, visit www.northropgrumman.com.
Safe Harbor Statement:
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including without limitation, those with respect to StockerYale's goals, plans and strategies set forth herein are forward-looking statements. The following important factors and uncertainties, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements: uncertainty that cash balances may not be sufficient to allow StockerYale to meet all of its business goals; uncertainty that StockerYale's new products will gain market acceptance; the risk that delays and unanticipated expenses in developing new products could delay the commercial release of those products and affect revenue estimates; the risk that one of our competitors could develop and bring to market a technology that is superior to those products that we are currently developing; and StockerYale's ability to capitalize on its significant research and development efforts by successfully marketing those products that the Company develops. Forward-looking statements represent management's current expectations and are inherently uncertain. You should also refer to the discussion under "Factors Affecting Operating Results" in StockerYale's annual report on Form 10-KSB and the Company's quarterly reports on Form 10-QSB for additional matters to be considered in this regard. Thus, actual results may differ materially. All Company, brand, and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. StockerYale undertakes no duty to update any of these forward-looking statements.
CONTACT:
The Piacente Group
Brandi Piacente, 212-481-2050
brandi@thepiacentegroup.com