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Source: Mercury Systems Inc

Mercury Systems Introduces Defense Industry’s First Removable Secure Solid State Drive for Harsh Military Environments

Watertight, hand-held solid-state drive integrated with the industry’s most advanced security architectures

ANDOVER, Mass., Dec. 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mercury Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRCY) (www.mrcy.com), today announced the start of customer design engagements for its new MISSION-Stor™ ultra-portable secure solid state drive (SSD) with integrated security and performance-enhancing algorithms. Though similar in size and function to a commercial USB flash drive, the Company’s new secure SSD has been precision-engineered to withstand the harshest military operating environments while simultaneously protecting the most sensitive data from adversarial attack. The new product is ideally suited for mission management applications, where mission instructions must be securely transferred to a military platform operating in a potentially hostile threat environment. 

The new MISSION-Stor device marries state-of-the-art NAND flash memory with the Company’s sixth generation ARMOR™ processor in a SWaP-optimized form factor small enough to comfortably fit in the pocket of a flight jacket. MISSION-Stor addresses customer applications that require protection of highly sensitive data, up to and including the Top Secret designation. MISSION-Stor SSD devices support encryption, key purge, sanitization and self-destruct capabilities. Mercury has engineered the new MISSION-Stor SSD device to the rigorous standards of Federal Information Processing System (FIPS) 140-2 and the National Security Administration’s Commercial Solutions for Classified (CSfC) program. The new product is expected to receive FIPS 140-2 certification approved component listing for the CSfC program in 2018.

The ARMOR processor, the backbone of Mercury’s entire suite of secure military-grade SSD solutions, enables data at rest protection using the strength of advanced encryption standard with 256 bit keys in the XTS block cipher mode (AES-256 XTS). Whereas commercial- and industrial-grade SSD devices typically decrypt data after entering a simple ATA password, the ARMOR processor supports the industry’s widest range of encryption key management options, including re-play attack mitigation and isolated key fill using a DS-101 serial interface protocol developed by the NSA.

“Today, we openly invite government agencies, defense prime contractors and other valued customers to engage with us as we field our new MISSION-Stor device,” said Iain Mackie, Vice President and General Manager of Mercury’s Microelectronics Secure Solutions group. “As the preeminent commercial supplier of secure military-grade SSD devices, our new MISSION-Stor product sets the bar for removable data storage with integrated security. Our Phoenix Advanced Microelectronics Center is proud to continue designing and manufacturing innovative security solutions purpose-built for government agencies and our military forces.”

The new MISSION-Stor device is available with either a high-speed non-volatile memory express (NVMe) interface or a serial ATA (SATA) interface. Additionally, users can configure the device to operate in either an extended-life or extended-capacity mode based on mission requirements. Extended-capacity mode enables approximately 1.5 TB of host-accessible data storage, while extended-life mode enables enhanced data endurance – up to 7.7 pentabytes (PB) of total data written – with a maximum host-accessible storage capacity of 512 GB.

The MISSION-Stor product, and all of Mercury’s digital microelectronics solutions, are manufactured in the Company’s Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA)-certified Advanced Microelectronics Center in Phoenix, Ariz. As a testament to its commitment for excellence in all aspects of security, Mercury protects its design and manufacturing records with an active cybersecurity program based on the Center for Internet Security (CIS) critical security controls. Furthermore, critical components are carefully sourced from a managed supply chain with manufacturing sites located in the United States.

Mercury’s application engineering team frequently assists customers seeking to deploy robust security solutions for the most complex applications. To participate in Mercury’s MISSION-Stor design program or for more production information, customers can visit www.mrcy.com/MISSION-Stor or contact Mercury at (866) 627-6951 or secure.ssd@mrcy.com.

Mercury Systems – Innovation That Matters™

Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY) is a leading commercial provider of secure sensor and safety-critical processing subsystems. Optimized for customer and mission success, Mercury’s solutions power a wide variety of critical defense and intelligence programs. Headquartered in Andover, Mass., Mercury is pioneering a next-generation defense electronics business model specifically designed to meet the industry’s current and emerging technology needs. To learn more, visit www.mrcy.com.

Forward-Looking Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including those relating to the products and services described herein. You can identify these statements by the use of the words “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “would,” “plans,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “continue,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “likely,” “forecast,” “probable,” “potential,” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, continued funding of defense programs, the timing and amounts of such funding, general economic and business conditions, including unforeseen weakness in the Company’s markets, effects of continued geopolitical unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, delays in completing engineering and manufacturing programs, changes in customer order patterns, changes in product mix, continued success in technological advances and delivering technological innovations, changes in, or in the U.S. Government’s interpretation of, federal export control or procurement rules and regulations, market acceptance of the Company's products, shortages in components, production delays or unanticipated expenses due to performance quality issues with outsourced components, inability to fully realize the expected benefits from acquisitions and restructurings, or delays in realizing such benefits, challenges in integrating acquired businesses and achieving anticipated synergies, increases in interest rates, changes to export regulations, increases in tax rates, changes to generally accepted accounting principles, difficulties in retaining key employees and customers, unanticipated costs under fixed-price service and system integration engagements, and various other factors beyond our control. These risks and uncertainties also include such additional risk factors as are discussed in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made.

Contact:
Robert McGrail, Director of Corporate Communications
Mercury Systems, Inc.
+1 978-967-1366 / rmcgrail@mrcy.com

Mercury Systems, Innovation That Matters, Mission-STOR and ARMOR are trademarks of Mercury Systems, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/05fd7208-595c-4241-acf8-f6c78c363798

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