Ceradyne, Inc. Receives $56.6 Million ESAPI Body Armor Order

COSTA MESA, CA, Mar 03 (MARKET WIRE) --
Ceradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRDN) announced that it has received a delivery
order for approximately $56.6 million for ESAPI (Enhanced Small Arms
Protective Insert) ceramic body armor plates. Ceradyne will begin
shipping this ESAPI production release in the second quarter this year
with full shipment expected to be completed late in the third quarter
2011.

The release was issued under the $2.37 billion ID/IQ (Indefinite
Delivery/Indefinite Quantity) contract originally issued in October 2008
and scheduled to expire in September 2013. There is a balance of
approximately $2.1 billion remaining on the ID/IQ contract. Ceradyne's
practice is to only book firm delivery orders such as the above $56.6
million as backlog for scheduled delivery.

David P. Reed, Ceradyne President, North American Operations, commented:
"We are extremely pleased to have been awarded this ESAPI contract. We
anticipate meeting the government's quality and delivery requirements
with this delivery order shipped complete in Q3 2011."

About Ceradyne, Inc.
Ceradyne develops, manufactures, and markets
advanced technical ceramic products and components for defense,
industrial, energy, automotive/diesel, and commercial applications. In
many high performance applications, products made of advanced technical
ceramics meet specifications that similar products made of metals,
plastics or traditional ceramics cannot achieve. Advanced technical
ceramics can withstand extremely high temperatures, combine hardness with
light weight, are highly resistant to corrosion and wear, and often have
excellent electrical capabilities, special electronic properties and low
friction characteristics. Additional information about the Company can be
found at http://www.ceradyne.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information
contained herein, this press release contains forward-looking statements
regarding future events and the future performance of Ceradyne that
involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those projected. Words such as "anticipates," "believes,"
"plans," "expects," "intends," "future," and similar expressions are
intended to identify forward-looking statements. These risks and
uncertainties are described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010 and its Quarterly Reports on
Form 10-Q as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

David Reed
President, North American Operations
(714) 549-0421, x8245

Phil Bourdillon/Gene Heller
Silverman Heller Associates
(310) 208-2550

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