UAV and CASARA Rescue

11 July 2008

7MDA PRESS RELEASE

UAV `Rescues' Canadian Member of Parliament

MDA Demonstrates first Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Search and Rescue Mission in Canada

Richmond, B.C. — MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (TSX: MDA), a provider of essential information solutions, announced that on June 10, 2008, it undertook the first Search and Rescue Mission involving both an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and manned aircraft in Canadian history. The Suffield, Alberta demonstration included participants from MDA, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA), and Calgary Northeast Conservative MP Art Hanger, who volunteered his time to play the role of a plane crash survivor. The exercise was filmed by the Discovery Channel.

The search and rescue demonstration involved a coordinated effort by both manned and unmanned aircraft and ground personnel as they responded to a report of a missing aircraft. Search and Rescue officials tasked the MDA Heron UAV to perform a wide area search. Search and Rescue spotters monitored, in real-time, the thermal and optical surveillance video collected by the Heron.

Once located by the UAV spotters, crash site details were provided to CASARA. The CASARA aircraft was tasked by the Search Director to the crash site, where it subsequently dropped a survival kit. After the drop, the CASARA aircraft left the immediate area and the MDA UAV was used by the Search Director to direct a ground search and rescue team. The ground team reached the crash site and Mr. Hanger was safely `rescued'. MDA's Heron UAV continued to circle above the crash site, providing real-time surveillance and monitoring of the entire operation.

The exercise was a great learning experience for both the UAV and CASARA teams. `With support from Medicine Hat Air Traffic Control, CFB Suffield Range Control, and Transport Canada, we were able to work with CASARA to ensure safe airspace separation between manned and unmanned aircraft' noted MDA's UAV operations manager, Gary Liddiard. `We now better understand the enormous potential for UAVs to support Canadian search and rescue needs' highlighted CASARA's Frank Schuurmans, Provincial President, Saskatchewan. `With their very long endurance and highly capable cameras, UAVs will be invaluable for future search efforts over Canada's large, remote areas.'

MDA is Canada's leading proponent of long-endurance UAVs for civil applications that include search and rescue, environmental monitoring, and forest fire fighting. UAVs are high-value surveillance assets capable of remaining in the air over extended periods to deliver high-resolution optical and thermal imagery in hostile environments that would otherwise put human life at risk. MDA's UAV Service is a unique research and development facility designed to promote and explore new UAV applications to commercial customers from around the world.

About MDA

MDA provides advanced information solutions that capture and process vast amounts of data, produce essential information, and improve the decision making and operational performance of business and government organizations worldwide.
Focused on markets and customers with strong repeat business potential, MDA delivers a broad spectrum of earth and space based information solutions, ranging from complex operational systems, to tailored information services, to electronic information products.
MDA employs more than 3,300 people in locations across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The Company's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol TSX:MDA.

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