SAFEROUTE™ MAKES FIRST FLIGHT ON OCTOBER 3
Continues On-Time Development
Testing Merging & Spacing function this week with FAA
Business Jet Customers Look to SAMM Function to Address Runway Incursions

Contact:
Steve Henden
Manager, Communications
ACSS, an L-3 Communications & Thales Company
623-445-7021

ORLANDO, October 17, 2006 – Since SafeRoute™ development was announced at last year’s Paris Air Show, ACSS, an L-3 Communications & Thales Company, has continued to meet all of its development milestones on schedule. The most recent milestone was a successful first flight onboard the ACSS King Air C-90 on October 3.

“The dream is becoming reality,” said ACSS President Kris Ganase. “Having completed a successful first flight, our SafeRoute development continues on-time as we work toward certification in mid-2007.”

SafeRoute is a unique set of safety and efficiency software solutions based on automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) technology. The system features two unique functional areas: Surface Area Movement Management (SAMM) and Merging & Spacing (M&S).

The SAMM application provides flight crews with an airport surface map and tracks the movements of aircraft and other ground and airborne traffic in the terminal area, and alerts crews of potential conflicts. With more and more attention being paid to the issue of runway incursion, business jet OEMs and operators are looking for solutions to what the FAA has called its “number 1 safety concern.” The SAMM application within SafeRoute delivers enhanced situational awareness by using aircraft onboard surveillance technology coupled with squittered ADS-B information to display traffic on an airport map to reduce the possibility of runway incursions.

The SafeRoute Merging & Spacing function makes use of on-board aircraft surveillance capability to provide flight deck spacing commands that allow aircraft to follow one another at the safest, most efficient interval possible from cruise altitude to the runway. M&S will ensure more consistent aircraft spacing while increasing capacity within the terminal airspace. M&S will also enable Continuous Descent Arrivals (CDA), which will further increase efficiency.

“Successful trials with CDAs flown in 2004 show the potential to achieve a 30 percent reduction in noise and a 34 percent reduction in emissions,” said Capt. Karen Lee, UPS Director of Flight Operations. “We also expect significant fuel savings from keeping our planes at higher altitudes longer and being able to get our planes on the ground faster.”

This week, the ACSS King Air will fly coordinated flight tests with a SafeRoute-equipped Convair operated by the FAA Flight Test Center in Atlantic City, N.J.

Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems (ACSS), an L-3 Communications & Thales Company, is a leader in safety avionics systems that increase safety, situational awareness and efficiency for aircraft operators. Based in Phoenix, its products include the TCAS 3000 and TCAS 2000 traffic alert and collision avoidance systems; MASS™, an enhanced TCAS for military operations; a family of Mode S transponders; the T²CAS®, a combined traffic and terrain collision avoidance system; TAWS+, a stand-alone terrain awareness warning system; and the Dlink+ communications management unit. The ACSS portfolio also includes a suite of automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast solutions for pilots operating in the airport vicinity called SafeRoute™. More than 45,000 units of ACSS product are operating in commercial, corporate and military aircraft. To learn more about ACSS, please visit the company's web site at www.acssonboard.com.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release are forward-looking statements.
The forward-looking statements set forth above involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any such statement, including the risks and uncertainties discussed in the company's Safe Harbor Compliance Statement for Forward-looking Statements included in the company's recent filings, including Forms 10-K and 10-Q, with the Securities and Exchange Commission.