AAI Corporation’s Aerosonde® Unmanned Aircraft Completes History-making Hurricane Noel Flight

            HUNT VALLEY, Maryland, November 12, 2007 — AAI Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of United Industrial Corporation (NYSE: UIC), announced today that its Aerosonde unmanned aircraft completed a history-making flight into Hurricane Noel on Friday and Saturday, November 2 and 3, in cooperation with NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

            This flight marked three historic milestones: 

-     It was the first hurricane mission in which an unmanned aircraft was able to explore the storm’s inner core, which comprises the hurricane’s eye and boundary layer, the eye wall. (The Aerosonde aircraft successfully penetrated the inner wall of a less dangerous tropical storm event during Tropical Storm Ophelia in 2005.)

-     The 17-hour, 27-minute flight duration was a record for unmanned aircraft hurricane missions.

-     The Aerosonde aircraft gathered data from as low as 300 feet above the ocean’s surface, lower than any other mission in history.

 “Hurricanes can inflict devastating loss of life and property,” said Joe Cione, lead scientist for this mission and a NOAA hurricane researcher based at the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorology Laboratory in Miami, Fla. “The data provided by these missions is critical to advances in hurricane prediction, including structure, path, and intensity.”

 The Aerosonde aircraft launched from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia at 2:08 p.m. on November 3, trailing and eventually penetrating Hurricane Noel. Flying within the eye wall and eye of the hurricane for approximately 7.5 hours, the aircraft withstood wind gusts of up to 64 knots. Real-time data gathered by the aircraft was streamed to the National Hurricane Center in Miami throughout the flight. 

 “This mission’s incredible success is the result of an exhaustive effort by AAI’s Aerosonde unmanned aircraft team based at Wallops Island Flight Facility, NOAA, and NASA. We are very proud to be a part of this team,” said Steve Reid, vice president of AAI’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems. “It isn’t just on the battlefield where unmanned aircraft systems are capable of mastering tasks too dangerous or complicated for manned aircraft. Whether flying within the eye of a hurricane or providing vital battlefield intelligence, unmanned systems such as our Aerosonde aircraft can and do save lives.”

  Called the Aerosonde Hurricane Boundary Layer Mission, the data gathered from this flight is vital for the nation’s hurricane researchers. The Aerosonde aircraft’s ability to fly at such low altitudes provides new information about how energy from the ocean is directly transferred into the atmosphere, contributing to a hurricane’s path and intensity and resulting in the storm’s highest and most dangerous winds.

 The Aerosonde unmanned aircraft system is a product of Aerosonde Pty Ltd., of Victoria, Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of AAI Corporation.         

            AAI Corporation designs, produces, and supports aerospace and defense systems through its direct and indirect wholly owned subsidiaries, AAI Services Corporation, Aerosonde Pty Ltd, Aerosonde North America Incorporated, ESL Defence Limited, McTurbine Inc., and Symtx, Inc. Its high-technology products and services include unmanned aircraft systems, training and simulation systems, automated aerospace test and maintenance equipment, armament systems, aviation ground support equipment, logistical and engineering services, and maintenance, repair, and overhaul activities.

            For more information, visit www.aaicorp.com.

            Except for the historical information contained herein, information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," and variations of such words and similar expressions that indicate future events and trends are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, which include, but are not limited to, projections of revenues, earnings, cash flows, and contract awards. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause the company's actual results or performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. The company makes no commitment to update any forward-looking statement or to disclose any facts, events, or circumstances after the date hereof that may affect the accuracy of any forward-looking statement. For additional information about the company and its various risk factors, please see the company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other documents as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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