CONTACT:  Lynn O'Mara
                      Irvine Sensors Corporation
                      714-444-8718
                      lomara@irvine-sensors.com

COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA -- October 11, 2000 -- Irvine Sensors Corporation (NASDAQ: IRSN and Boston Stock Exchange: ISC) announced today that it has formed a consolidated subsidiary, iNetWorks Corporation, to commercialize its proprietary technology for high-speed telecommunications and Internet routers. Mel R. Brashears, former Lockheed Martin Sector President & Chief Operating Officer who was the executive in charge of several commercial "spin-outs", will serve as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the newly created company.

iNetWorks plans a router product in 2002 that will use Irvine Sensors' 3-dimensional (3-D) chip stacking and interconnect structures to compress the equivalent of eight "state-of-the-art", seven feet-high router bays into a single bay, a result with significant advantages in terms of throughput, power, operational flexibility and economics. This design approach is an outgrowth of the "Silicon Brain™" initiative that Irvine Sensors has been developing for several years through its own funding and various U.S. Government-funded R&D programs. The commercialization of this development was focused in February of this year with the award of another R&D contract specifically targeting this "super switch" application.

According to Brashears, "With the demand for Internet capacity continuously doubling every few months, new products and system solutions are critically needed to route and switch traffic. Our objective is to meet tomorrow's demand head-on by developing an electro-optical 'SuperRouter™' that offers 100 times the throughput of what is available today. My task is to build and manage the strategic, financial and operational teams to make that happen."

Robert G. Richards, Irvine Sensors' President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "With the support of our government sponsors, suppliers and customers, we have been able to maintain the ambitious schedule we established earlier this year. The addition of Mel Brashears, a widely-respected leader who knows how to bring projects of this scale to fruition, and the 'carve-out' of an operating corporation are key milestones in our push to market."

Irvine Sensors Corporation, headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, is primarily engaged in the development of high density electronics, miniaturized sensors and sensor readout circuits, miniature cameras, optical interconnections, image processing and recognition devices, and low-power analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits for diverse systems applications. It generally seeks to commercialize its technologies through independently financed and managed subsidiaries.

iNetWorks is currently co-located with Irvine Sensors in Costa Mesa, CA. The company can be reached at Phone: 1-714-435-8900, Fax: 1-714-444-8823, or E-mail: info@inetworkscorp.com. The company's web site is at: www.iNetWorksCorp.com.

Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements are dependent on risks and uncertainties including such factors, among others, as the ability of the Company to control and further reduce its operating expense, the technological risk in new products and the impact of competition. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Further information on the Company's status and the matters discussed herein are contained in publicly-filed disclosures available through the SEC's EDGAR data base (www.sec.gov) or the Company's Shareholder Relations.