National Technical Systems Announces HERO Safety Testing

CALABASAS, Calif. and BOXBOROUGH, Mass., Oct. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- National Technical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTSC) (NTS), a leading provider of testing and engineering services, announced today that it has expanded its ordnance safety testing capabilities to include Hazard of Electromagnetic Radiation to Ordnance (HERO).  HERO testing is now a featured capability at NTS' Boxborough facility.

NTS Boxborough is fully equipped to HERO test the Electro-Explosive Devices (EED) in ammunition and ordnance.  EEDs are mission critical components in many of the bombs, missiles, munitions, and ammunition carried on and fired from airborne, sea, space, ground or personal weapon systems.  Comprehensive testing to Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) environments is required by the U.S. Department of Defense for successful development and qualification of explosive initiation components. 

The primary approach to conducting a HERO evaluation is to monitor the current induced response of an EED when exposed to high levels of EMR to determine that the required safety and/or reliability margins are met.  Electrical hazards inherently exist in these devices because of fundamental susceptibilities in the firing circuits contained within the EEDs; safety hazards produced by the multitude of electromagnetic environments they encounter during their transport, storage, and deployment.  NTS works closely with its Department of Defense (DOD) and commercial defense customers to identify and produce the correct EMR testing environment and monitoring methods to ensure each unique EED device meets the specified HERO testing requirements.

"HERO testing is a niche market, but a very important market for us and for our customers that manufacture ordnances for the Department of Defense and our armed forces," said Jeffrey Viel, Regional Director, EMI Engineering Services for NTS. "At the most basic level, we can test almost any ordnance item's electronic initiation device to prove it is safe for HERO and won't detonate (or dud) when exposed to electromagnetic radiation while being stored, transported or being readied for deployment. We believe we can perform these comprehensive tests faster and more cost effectively than any other testing facility."

HERO testing at the NTS Boxborough facility, which is equipped to handle Class 1.4 explosives, compliments the more comprehensive ordnance and explosives testing done at NTS Camden Operations in Arkansas (http://www.nts.com/locations/camden).  The NTS Camden facility is widely recognized as a leading commercial ordnance test and proving ground, providing AA&E engineering services and infrastructure for characterizing, testing, and documenting the performance of weapons, ammunition, munitions, and energetic systems and components to DOD and government standards and specifications.  

About NTS Boxborough
The NTS Boxborough, MA location is a full service engineering and testing facility, capable of managing complex aerospace, defense, telecommunications or commercial programs. Extensive climatic and environmental test capabilities are available, as well as custom test set ups for hydraulic testing and FAA fire testing. Environmental testing disciplines include: independent and combined thermal, humidity and altitude, salt fog, wind driven rain, fire, icing, thermal vacuum and explosive atmosphere. Its large scale dynamics laboratory includes seven electro-dynamic vibration systems, shock towers and seismic systems including independent triaxial, acceleration, shock, static and dynamic loading measurement capabilities. EMI/EMC testing capabilities include radiated susceptibility, radiated emissions, magnetic emissions, conducted immunity, harmonics analysis, electrical power characteristics, airborne and structure borne noise, AC power cross and power fault, and lightning simulation indirect effects, and Electro-Static Discharge (ESD) up to 25kV. Military and aerospace capabilities include Immunity testing up to 200v/m from 10kHz to 40GHz, as well as Electrical Power Characteristics testing for ground, aircraft, shipboard, and submarine applications.

About National Technical Systems
National Technical Systems, Inc. is a leading provider of engineering services to the aerospace, defense, telecommunications, automotive and high technology markets. Through a world-wide network of resources, NTS provides full product life-cycle support, offering world class design engineering, compliance, testing, certification, quality registration and program management. For additional information about NTS, visit the Company's website at www.nts.com or call 800-270-2516.

Forward-Looking Statements
The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performance, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with uncertainties pertaining to customer orders, demand for services and products, development of markets for the companies' services and products and other risks identified in the companies' SEC filings. Actual results, events and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The companies undertake no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding National Technical Systems' business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report or Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.

SOURCE National Technical Systems, Inc.