RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., April 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. National Guard says it has selected Cyberlux Corp. to provide lighting capabilities to the Vigilant Guard 2008 Disaster Response Exercise.

The Vigilant Guard exercise, scheduled to take place in Beaufort, S.C., is an initiative to test emergency response readiness to a terrorist attack or natural disaster. The National Guard says it has awarded a contract to North Carolina-based Cyberlux to provide stadium-bright lighting during the various exercises operating the company's BrightEye 4M Tower Illumination Systems and the BrightEye Dual Lighthead Tactical Illumination Systems technologies.

The Vigilant Guard exercise with more than 2,000 National Guardsmen from 11 states will take place April 21 to April 24. Officials say the exercises will include 50 different missions to test the search and rescue, evacuation and distribution of goods readiness in case of an emergency situation.

"With the BrightEye already deployed to CERFP (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosive enhanced response force package) teams, we anticipate ongoing BrightEye needs within the National Guard, and the Vigilant Guard exercise will further demonstrate the unparalleled tactical lighting capability of our products," Mark Schmidt, Cyberlux president and chief operating officer, said in a statement.

"Over the last year, we have made important progress with our Military and Homeland Security customers, including the U. S. Air Force and National Guard, and the Vigilant Guard demonstration is the next step in having our BrightEye tactical lighting solutions deployed within the broader scope of National Guard operations."