Costa Mesa, Calif.—September 30, 2005—Ceradyne, Inc. (Company) (Nasdaq: CRDN) received an order for $8.3 million for its lightweight ceramic armor systems for use by the U.S. Air Force.  Shipments are expected to commence in November 2005 and be completed by March 2006.

The order was placed by the Defense Supply Center, Philadelphia (DSCP), which is part of the Defense Logistics Agency.

Joel Moskowitz, Ceradyne chief executive officer, commented: “Ceradyne has been working with DSCP for over 5 years and we are very pleased that this order was placed with us by that procurement agency.  We anticipate that there will be continuing orders for this type of lightweight ceramic armor system products.”

Ceradyne develops, manufactures and markets advanced technical ceramic products and components for defense, industrial, automotive/diesel and commercial applications. Additional information about the Company can be found at www.ceradyne.com.

Except for the historical information contained herein, this news 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.  Other risks and uncertainties are described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004, and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2005, as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.