Toronto, ON, March 2006 - Optech Incorporated, the global leader in the development and manufacture of laser-based survey instruments, is pleased to announce that its SHOALS-3000 has successfully completed acceptance trials with the U.S. Navy.

The SHOALS-3000 is an advance on its predecessor, the SHOALS-1000. The upgraded unit features higher collection rates, larger swath width, a hyperspectral camera, and an expanded software suite. The SHOALS series of airborne laser scanners are littoral mapping tools with bathymetric and topographic capabilities. The newly introduced hyperspectral camera, in conjunction with faster bathymetric and topographic lasers, provides unprecedented survey detail of coastal areas.

As part of the Compact Hydrographic Airborne Rapid Total Survey (CHARTS) program executed through the Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of Expertise (JALBTCX), Optech first delivered the SHOALS-1000 to the U.S. Navy in September 2003.

Shortly after this delivery, Optech was contracted to design and implement a number of major upgrades to the SHOALS-1000. The upgrades replaced the original plan to miniaturize the SHOALS-1000, thus fielding a system even more suitable for coastal mapping. The SHOALS-3000 trials were completed in Summer, 2005.

"The SHOALS-3000 provides our customers with an unparalleled shallow water survey," says Bernie Poplack, Optech's Marine Survey Division Director. "With the new reflectance and hyperspectral capabilities, the SHOALS-3000 enables our users to obtain information and detail they never thought possible."

About Optech

Optech is the world leader in the development, manufacture and marketing of advanced laser-based survey instruments. The company offers client-driven solutions in airborne terrestrial mapping, airborne laser bathymetry, laser imaging, space-based atmospheric monitors and space-borne landingldocking systems, mine cavity monitoring systems and industrial process control.