Mitcham Industries, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Klein Marine Systems, Inc. have entered into an agreement with a major European defense contractor to jointly upgrade existing technology to create the next generation of synthetic aperture sonar systems for commercial and military markets. The new systems will be based on technology developed by each of parties over the past several years.  Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.

Guy Malden, Mitcham Co-CEO, commented, "Increasingly, customers require higher resolution images and higher scan rates for certain demanding applications. Synthetic aperture sonar ("SAS") is one way to achieve this. In fact, for certain projects, SAS is a specified technology. We believe that by partnering with this major European defense contractor that has recognized expertise in marine acoustic technology, and by leveraging both our previous developments, we will be able to bring solutions to the market much more quickly. We also think this will significantly increase the addressable market for our Klein sonar solutions. Plans are to provide SAS systems for both towed body and AUV configurations. We expect to make more information available, including expected availability, in the coming weeks and months."

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