Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Jan. 31, 2012

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

13.Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments

Purchase commitments

At January 31, 2012, the Company was committed to future purchases of approximately $3,443,000 for materials and services as well as a development contract. These purchase commitments are supported by firm underlying contracts with customers and contain provisions permitting the Company to terminate such purchase commitments in the event the underlying contracts should be terminated or discontinued.

Purchase commitments as of January 31, 2012 are as follows:

	Payments Due By Period
	Less Than One Year		One Year to 3 Years		Greater Than 3 Years to 5 Years		After 5 Years		Total
Purchase commitments	$	3,390,000	$	53,000	$	-	$	-	$	3,443,000

Leases

On September 20, 2007, the Company entered into a five year operating lease at a location near Charlottesville, Virginia, which represents the new facility for the support and repair/overhaul employees of Avionics who were retained subsequent to the consolidation of the Earlysville operations into the Clearwater facility. Total rental expense was approximately $167,000 and $154,000 for the years ended January 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively, which is included in cost of sales.

The future minimum rental payments under leases that have initial or remaining non-cancelable lease terms in excess of one year at January 31, 2012 are as follows:

For the years ending January 31,	Operating Leases
2013		159,000
	$	159,000

Contingencies

Litigation

From time to time, the Company may be involved in certain claims and legal actions arising in the ordinary course of business. As of January 31, 2012, there were no claims or legal actions that will have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position, results of operations, or liquidity.

Environmental

In preparation for the sale of the Earlysville, Virginia facility, the Company engaged an environmental consulting firm to survey the property for possible soil or groundwater contamination. This survey revealed impacts to both shallow soils and groundwater that may have resulted from the accidental loss of solvents. As a result of the initial and subsequent surveys, contamination treatment was determined to be necessary at an estimated total cost of $788,000 as of January 31, 2012, as determined by an environmental compliance specialist, and which is included in the environmental liability. Thus, in accordance with U.S. GAAP, the Company capitalized these contamination treatment costs in its financial statements as an increase to property held for sale, net, since such costs will be incurred in preparation for the sale of the Earlysville, Virginia facility.

The Company has had discussions with the former owner of the property concerning responsibility for contamination treatment. The former owner of the property and the Company solicited proposals in 2009 from environmental consulting firms and received a proposal from which management estimates the cost of contamination treatment to be approximately $615,000. Depending on the findings of additional studies, the scope and cost of the contamination treatment may change. Current estimates of future monitoring, oversight and other related costs are estimated between approximately $175,000 and $225,000.  As of January 31, 2012, the Company and the former owner of the property were negotiating the terms of administrative consent orders with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for completion of the contamination characterization and treatment plans. The Company continues to be in communication with the former owner of the property concerning its responsibility to cover the costs of the contamination characterization and treatment. The Company will reassess the accrued liability and record any appropriate adjustments in our financial statements following completion of the characterization process as required by these orders. Costs incurred during the fiscal year ended January 31, 2012 and January 31, 2011 to pay an environmental consulting firm to characterize contamination that may be present in the ground between the Company’s property and nearby homes amounted to $20,000 and $124,000, respectively.