Document And Entity Information (USD $)	12 Months Ended
Document And Entity Information (USD $)	Apr. 30, 2013	Jul. 22, 2013	Oct. 31, 2012
Document and Entity Information [Abstract]
Entity Registrant Name	FREQUENCY ELECTRONICS INC
Document Type	10-K
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--04-30
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		8,493,333
Entity Public Float			$ 45,300,000
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Central Index Key	0000039020
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Filer Category	Smaller Reporting Company
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Document Period End Date	Apr. 30, 2013
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2013
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY

Consolidated Balance Sheets (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 3,460	$ 4,782
Marketable securities	18,270	17,658
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $288 in 2013 and $400 in 2012	7,781	10,866
Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings, net	8,617	7,207
Inventories, net	37,521	34,299
Deferred income taxes	3,170	3,152
Prepaid income taxes	680	0
Prepaid expenses and other	1,517	1,398
Total current assets	81,016	79,362
Property, plant and equipment, at cost, net of accumulated depreciation and amortization	8,316	8,374
Deferred income taxes	6,320	5,692
Goodwill and other intangible assets	781	873
Cash surrender value of life insurance and cash held in trust	10,763	10,133
Other assets	1,713	1,793
Total assets	108,909	106,227
Current liabilities:
Short-term credit obligations	158	6,383
Accounts payable - trade	1,205	2,644
Accrued liabilities	7,964	6,986
Income taxes payable	0	96
Total current liabilities	9,327	16,109
Credit obligations- noncurrent	6,000	15
Deferred compensation	10,374	10,179
Deferred rent and other liabilities	756	792
Total liabilities	26,457	27,095
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders' equity:
Preferred stock, $1.00 par value authorized 600 shares, no shares issued
Common stock, $1.00 par value; authorized 20,000 shares, 9,164 shares issued and 8,463 outstanding in 2013; 8,363 outstanding in 2012	9,164	9,164
Additional paid-in capital	51,913	50,797
Retained earnings	20,662	18,660
	81,739	78,621
Common stock reacquired and held in treasury - at cost (701 shares in 2013 and 801 shares in 2012)	(3,200)	(3,659)
Accumulated other comprehensive income	3,913	4,170
Total stockholders' equity	82,452	79,132
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity	$ 108,909	$ 106,227

Consolidated Balance Sheets (Parentheticals) (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Allowance for doubtful accounts (in Dollars)	$ 288	$ 400
Preferred stock, par value (in Dollars per share)	$ 1.00	$ 1.00
Preferred stock, shares authorized (in Shares)	600	600
Preferred stock, shares issued (in Shares)	0	0
Common stock par value (in Dollars per share)	$ 1.00	$ 1.00
Common stock, shares authorized (in Shares)	20,000	20,000
Common stock, shares issued (in Shares)	9,164	9,164
Common stock, shares outstanding (in Shares)	8,463	8,363
Treasury stock, shares (in Shares)	701	801

Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Revenues	$ 68,932	$ 63,595
Cost of revenues	43,822	38,977
Gross margin	25,110	24,618
Selling and administrative expenses	14,704	14,055
Research and development expenses	5,727	3,860
Operating profit	4,679	6,703
Other income (expense):
Investment income	671	646
Gain on investment in affiliate	0	730
Equity loss	0	(650)
Impairment of investment in affiliate	0	(350)
Interest expense	(195)	(121)
Other expense, net	(69)	(144)
Income before provision (benefit) for income taxes	5,086	6,814
Provision (Benefit) for income taxes	1,400	(560)
Net income	3,686	7,374
Net income per common share:
Basic (in Dollars per share)	$ 0.44	$ 0.89
Diluted (in Dollars per share)	$ 0.43	$ 0.86
Average shares outstanding:
Basic (in Shares)	8,412,633	8,329,081
Diluted (in Shares)	8,604,651	8,540,955
Statements of Comprehensive Income
Net Income	3,686	7,374
Other comprehensive income (loss):
Foreign currency translation adjustment	(782)	(1,070)
Change in market value of marketable securities	821	74
Deferred tax effect of change in marketable securities	(296)	(26)
Total other comprehensive income (loss)	(257)	(1,022)
Comprehensive income	$ 3,429	$ 6,352

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income	$ 3,686	$ 7,374
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided in operating activities:
Deferred income tax benefit	(320)	(3,100)
Depreciation and amortization	2,413	2,241
Deferred lease obligation	(68)	(69)
Provision for losses on accounts receivable, inventories and warranty reserve	2,146	1,463
(Gain) Loss on marketable securities and other assets, net	(2)	(69)
Gain on investment in affiliate	0	(730)
Equity loss	0	650
Impairment of investment in affiliate	0	350
Employee benefit plans expense	1,072	1,156
Stock-based compensation expense	947	862
Tax benefit from exercise of stock-based compensation	(152)	(9)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable	465	(4,522)
Inventories	(6,017)	(4,242)
Prepaid expenses and other	(133)	(102)
Other assets	(614)	(567)
Accounts payable - trade	(502)	880
Accrued liabilities	895	(29)
Income taxes refundable/payable	(1,071)	1,114
Other liabilities	88	(507)
Net cash provided by operating activities	2,833	2,144
Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of FEI-Elcom, net of $763 cash acquired	0	(4,483)
Purchase of marketable securities	(2,836)	(8,782)
Proceeds from sale or redemption of marketable securities	3,006	6,636
Proceeds from sale of fixed assets	67	24
Capital expenditures	(2,250)	(1,396)
Net cash used in investing activities	(2,013)	(8,001)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from credit line borrowing	5,000	6,344
Payment of short-term credit and lease obligations	(5,357)	(660)
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	20	13
Dividends	(1,684)	0
Tax benefit from exercise of stock-based compensation	152	9
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	(1,869)	5,706
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents before effect of exchange rate changes	(1,049)	(151)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(273)	(342)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(1,322)	(493)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year	4,782	5,275
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year	3,460	4,782
Cash paid during the year for:
Interest	186	119
Income taxes	2,993	1,475
Allocation of fair value to net assets acquired on fiscal year 2012 purchase of FEI-Elcom Tech, Inc.
Cash	0	763
Accounts receivable	0	342
Inventory	0	3,233
Other current assets	0	61
Fixed assets	0	2,100
Goodwill and other intangible assets	0	673
Deferred tax assets	0	2,573
Other assets	0	180
Accounts payable	0	(350)
Accrued expenses	0	(1,461)
Capital lease obligations	0	(234)
	$ 0	$ 7,880

Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders' Equity (USD $)	Common Stock [Member]	Additional Paid-in Capital [Member]	Retained Earnings [Member]	Treasury Stock [Member]	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) [Member]	Total
Balance at Apr. 30, 2011
Contribution of stock to 401(k) plan		$ 154,000		$ 206,000		$ 360,000
Contribution of stock to 401(k) plan (in Shares)				(42,370)
Stock-based compensation expense		775,000		87,000		862,000
Stock-based compensation expense (in Shares)				(17,900)
Tax benefit from stock option exercise		9,000				9,000
Exercise of stock options and stock appreciation rights - net of shares tendered for exercise price		(9,000)		23,000		14,000
Exercise of stock options and stock appreciation rights - net of shares tendered for exercise price (in Shares)				(4,677)
Change in unrealized gains and losses on marketable securities - net					48,000	48,000
Foreign currency translation adjustment					(1,070,000)	(1,070,000)
Net Income			7,374,000			7,374,000
Balance at Apr. 30, 2012	9,164,000	50,797,000	18,660,000	(3,659,000)	4,170,000	79,132,000
Balance (in Shares) at Apr. 30, 2012	9,163,940			800,787
Contribution of stock to 401(k) plan		214,000		242,000		456,000
Contribution of stock to 401(k) plan (in Shares)				(52,715)
Stock-based compensation expense		947,000				947,000
Stock-based compensation expense (in Shares)				100
Tax benefit from stock option exercise		152,000				152,000
Exercise of stock options and stock appreciation rights - net of shares tendered for exercise price		(197,000)		217,000		20,000
Exercise of stock options and stock appreciation rights - net of shares tendered for exercise price (in Shares)				(47,582)
Cash dividend $0.20 per share			(1,684,000)			(1,684,000)
Change in unrealized gains and losses on marketable securities - net					525,000	525,000
Foreign currency translation adjustment					(782,000)	(782,000)
Net Income			3,686,000			3,686,000
Balance at Apr. 30, 2013	$ 9,164,000	$ 51,913,000	$ 20,662,000	$ (3,200,000)	$ 3,913,000	$ 82,452,000
Balance (in Shares) at Apr. 30, 2013	9,163,940			700,590

1. Summary of Accounting Policies

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block]

Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block]

1. Summary of Accounting Policies

Principles of Consolidation:

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Frequency Electronics, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (the "Company" or "Registrant"). References to “FEI” are to the parent company alone and do not refer to any of its subsidiaries. The Company is principally engaged in the design, development and manufacture of precision time and frequency control products and components for microwave integrated circuit applications. See Note 15 for information regarding the Company’s FEI-NY (which includes the subsidiaries FEI Government Systems, Inc., FEI Communications, Inc., Frequency Electronics, Inc. Asia (“FEI-Asia”) and FEI-Elcom Tech, Inc. (“FEI-Elcom”)), Gillam-FEI, and FEI-Zyfer business segments. Intercompany accounts and significant intercompany transactions are eliminated in consolidation. To accommodate the different fiscal periods of Gillam-FEI, the Company recognizes its share of net income or loss on a one month lag. Any material events which may occur during the intervening month at Gillam-FEI will be accounted for in the consolidated financial statements.

These financial statements have been prepared in conformity with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) and require management to make estimates and assumptions that affect amounts reported and disclosed in the financial statements and related notes. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Cash Equivalents:

The Company considers certificates of deposit and other highly liquid investments with maturities of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company places its temporary cash investments with high credit quality financial institutions. Such investments may be in excess of the FDIC insurance limit. No losses have been experienced on such investments.

Marketable Securities:

Marketable securities consist of investments in common stocks, including exchange-traded funds, corporate debt securities and debt securities of U.S. government agencies. All marketable securities were held in the custody of financial institutions; five institutions at April 30, 2013 and 2012. Investments in debt and equity securities are categorized as available for sale and are carried at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses excluded from income and recorded directly to stockholders' equity. The Company recognizes gains or losses when securities are sold using the specific identification method.

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts:

Losses from uncollectible accounts receivable are provided for by utilizing the allowance for doubtful accounts method based upon management’s estimate of uncollectible accounts. Management analyzes accounts receivable and the potential for bad debts, customer concentrations, credit worthiness, current economic trends and changes in customer payment terms when evaluating the amount recorded for the allowance for doubtful accounts.

Inventories:

Inventories, which consist of finished goods, work-in-process, raw materials and components, are accounted for at the lower of cost (specific and average) or market.

Property, Plant and Equipment:

Property, plant and equipment are recorded at cost and include interest on funds borrowed to finance construction. Expenditures for renewals and betterments are capitalized; maintenance and repairs are charged to income when incurred. When fixed assets are sold or retired, the cost and related accumulated depreciation and amortization are eliminated from the respective accounts and any gain or loss is credited or charged to income.

If events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of a long-lived asset may not be recoverable, the Company estimates the future cash flows expected to result from the use of the asset and its eventual disposition. If the sum of the expected future cash flows (undiscounted and without interest charges) is less than the carrying amount of the long-lived asset, an impairment loss is recognized. To date, no impairment losses have been recognized.

Depreciation and Amortization:

Depreciation of fixed assets is computed on the straight-line method based upon the estimated useful lives of the assets (40 years for buildings and 3 to 10 years for other depreciable assets). Leasehold improvements and equipment acquired under capital leases are amortized on the straight-line method over the shorter of the term of the lease or the useful life of the related asset.

Amortization of identifiable intangible assets is based upon the expected lives of the assets and is recorded at a rate which approximates the Company’s utilization of the assets.

Intangible Assets:

Intangible assets consist of the ISO 9000 certification arising from the acquisition of FEI-Elcom in the assignment of fair value to its acquired assets including intangibles. The certification is valued at fair value and amortized over the estimated useful life of 3 years from the date of acquisition.

Goodwill:

The Company records goodwill as the excess of purchase price over the fair value of identifiable net assets acquired. Goodwill is tested for impairment on at least an annual basis at year end. When it is determined that the carrying value of goodwill may not be recoverable, the Company writes down the goodwill to an amount commensurate with the revised value of the acquired assets. The Company measures impairment based on revenue projections, recent transactions involving similar businesses and price/revenue multiples at which they were bought and sold, price/revenue multiples of competitors, and the present market value of publicly-traded companies in the Company’s industry.

Revenue and Cost Recognition:

Revenues under larger, long-term contracts, which generally require billings based on achievement of milestones rather than delivery of product, are reported in operating results using the percentage of completion method. For U.S. Government and other fixed-price contracts that require initial design and development of the product, revenue is recognized on the cost-to-cost method. Under this method, revenue is recorded based upon the ratio that incurred costs bear to total estimated contract costs with related cost of sales recorded as the costs are incurred. Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts, net of billings on uncompleted contracts in excess of costs and estimated earnings, are included in current assets.

On production-type orders, revenue is recorded as units are delivered with the related cost of sales recognized on each shipment based upon a percentage of estimated final program costs.

Changes in job performance on long-term and production-type orders may result in revisions to costs and revenue and are recognized in the period in which revisions are determined to be required. Provisions for anticipated losses are made in the period in which they become determinable.

For customer orders in the Company’s subsidiaries, and smaller contracts or orders in the other business segments, sales of products and services to customers are reported in operating results upon shipment of the product or performance of the services pursuant to terms of the customer order.

Contract costs include all direct material, direct labor costs, manufacturing overhead and other direct costs related to contract performance. Selling, general and administrative costs are charged to expense as incurred.

In accordance with industry practice, inventoried costs contain amounts relating to contracts and programs with long production cycles, a portion of which will not be realized within one year. Program costs for which production-level orders cannot be determined as probable are written down in the period in which that assessment is made.

Comprehensive Income:

Comprehensive income consists of net income and other comprehensive income. Other comprehensive income includes changes in unrealized gains or losses, net of tax, on securities available for sale during the year and the effects of foreign currency translation adjustments.

Research and Development expenses:

The Company engages in research and development activities to identify new applications for its core technologies, to improve existing products and to improve manufacturing processes to achieve cost reductions and manufacturing efficiencies. Research and development costs include direct labor, manufacturing overhead, direct materials and contracted services. Such costs are expensed as incurred.

Income Taxes:

The Company recognizes deferred tax liabilities and assets based on the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in the financial statements or tax returns. Under this method, deferred tax liabilities and assets are determined based on the difference between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. Valuation allowances are established and adjusted when necessary to increase or reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.

The Company analyzes its tax positions under accounting standards which prescribe recognition thresholds that must be met before a tax benefit is recognized in the financial statements and provides guidance on de-recognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure, and transition. An entity may only recognize or continue to recognize tax positions that meet a "more likely than not" threshold. When and if the Company were to recognize interest or penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits, it would be reported net of the federal tax benefit in the tax provision.

Earnings Per Share:

Basic earnings per share are computed by dividing net earnings by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding. Diluted earnings per share are computed by dividing net earnings by the sum of the weighted average number of shares of common stock and the if-converted effect of unexercised stock options.

Fair Values of Financial Instruments:

Cash and cash equivalents and short-term credit obligations are reflected in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets at amounts considered by management to reasonably approximate fair value based upon the nature of the instrument and current market conditions. Management is not aware of any factors that would significantly affect the value of these amounts. The Company also has an investment in a privately-held company, Morion, Inc. (“Morion”). The Company is unable to reasonably estimate a fair value for this investment. Additionally, the Company had a non-controlling interest in Elcom Technologies, Inc. (“Elcom” and, after the acquisition, “FEI-Elcom”) in 2012 (through the date of acquisition). See Note 11 - Acquisition of Elcom Technologies, Inc.

Foreign Operations and Foreign Currency Adjustments:

The Company maintains manufacturing operations in Belgium and the People’s Republic of China. The Company is vulnerable to currency risks in these countries. The local currency is the functional currency of each of the Company’s non-U.S. subsidiaries. No foreign currency gains or losses are recorded on intercompany transactions since they are effected at current rates of exchange. The results of operations of foreign subsidiaries, when translated into U.S. dollars, reflect the average rates of exchange for the periods presented. The balance sheets of foreign subsidiaries, except for equity accounts which are translated at historical rates, are translated into U.S. dollars at the rates of exchange in effect on the date of the balance sheet. As a result, similar results in local currency can vary upon translation into U.S. dollars if exchange rates fluctuate significantly from one period to the next.

Equity-based Compensation:

The Company values its share-based payment transactions using the Black-Scholes valuation model. Such value is recognized as expense on a straight-line basis over the service period of the awards, which is generally the vesting period, net of estimated forfeitures.

The weighted average fair value of each option or stock appreciation right has been estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following range of weighted average assumptions used for grants:

	Years ended April 30
	2013						2012
Expected volatility					40	%					40	%
Dividend yield					0.0	%					0.0	%
Risk-free interest rate		1.31	%	to	1.35	%		1.30	%	to	1.34	%
Expected lives					8.5 years						10 years

The expected life assumption was determined based on the Company’s historical experience. The expected volatility assumption was based on the historical volatility of the Company’s common stock. The dividend yield assumption was determined based upon the Company’s past history of dividend payments and the Company’s current decision to suspend payment of dividends. On December 21, 2012, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a special cash dividend of $0.20 per share, payable on December 31, 2012 to shareholders of record on December 24, 2012. Due to the one-time nature of the special dividend it was not factored into the Black Scholes fair value calculations. The risk-free interest rate assumption was determined using the implied yield currently available for zero-coupon U.S. government issues with a remaining term equal to the expected life of the stock options.

Concentration of Credit Risk

Financial instruments, which potentially subject the Company to concentration of credit risk, consist principally of cash and cash equivalents and trade receivables. The Company maintains accounts at several commercial banks at which the balances exceed Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation limits. The Company has not experienced any losses on such amounts. Concentration of credit risk with respect to trade receivables is generally diversified due to the large number of entities comprising the Company’s customer base and their dispersion across geographic areas principally within the United States. The Company routinely addresses the financial strength of its customers and, as a consequence, believes that its receivable credit risk exposure is limited. The Company does not require customers to post collateral.

New Accounting Pronouncements:

In June 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2011-05 “Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Presentation of Comprehensive Income” (“ASU No. 2011-05”). Under ASU No. 2011-5, an entity has the option to present the total of comprehensive income, the components of net income, and the components of other comprehensive income either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements. Regardless of which option is selected, an entity is required to present each component of net income along with total net income, each component of other comprehensive income along with a total for other comprehensive income, and a total amount for comprehensive income. ASU No. 2011-5 eliminates the option (previously utilized by the Company) to present the components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of changes in stockholders’ equity. ASU No. 2011-5 was adopted by the Company at the beginning of the current fiscal year, and affects only the presentation of financial statements and has no financial impact on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

In September 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-08, Testing Goodwill for Impairment” (“ASU No. 2011-08”), which is intended to reduce the complexity and costs to test goodwill for impairment. The amendment allows an entity the option to make a qualitative evaluation about the likelihood of goodwill impairment to determine whether it is necessary to perform the two-step quantitative goodwill impairment test. An entity will no longer be required to calculate the fair value of a reporting unit unless the entity determines, based on its qualitative assessment, that it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. ASU No. 2011-08 also expands upon the examples of events and circumstances that an entity should consider between annual impairment tests in determining whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. The amendment became effective for annual and interim goodwill impairment tests performed by the Company in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ended April 30, 2012. The adoption of ASU 2011-08 did not have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In February 2013, the FASB issued Accounting Standard Update No. 2013-02, Other Comprehensive Income. The amendments require an entity to provide information about the amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income by component. In addition, an entity is required to present, either on the face of the statement where net income is presented or in the notes, significant amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income by the respective line items of net income but only if the amount reclassified is required under U.S. GAAP to be reclassified to net income in its entirety in the same reporting period. For other amounts that are not required under U.S. GAAP to be reclassified in their entirety to net income, an entity is required to cross-reference to other disclosures required under U.S. GAAP that provide additional detail about those amounts. This ASU is effective for periods beginning after December 15, 2012. The Company does not expect adoption of ASU 2013-02 to have a material effect on its financial statements.

In July 2012, the FASB issued ASU No. 2012-02, Intangibles – Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Test Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets for Impairment. Under the requirements of ASU 2012-02 an entity has the option to assess qualitative factors when testing indefinite-lived intangible assets annually to determine whether it is more likely than not that the asset is not impaired. An entity also has the option to bypass the qualitative assessment for any indefinite-lived intangible asset in any period and proceed directly to performing the quantitative impairment test or resume performing the qualitative assessment in any subsequent period. If, after assessing the totality of events and circumstances, an entity concludes that it is more likely than not that the indefinite-lived intangible asset is impaired, then it is required to determine the fair value of the indefinite-lived intangible asset and perform the quantitative impairment test by comparing the fair value with the carrying amount in accordance with Subtopic 350-30. ASU 2012-02 is effective for annual and interim impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after September 15, 2012. The Company will adopt ASU 2012-02 for its fiscal year 2014 which begins on May 1, 2013. The Company is unable to determine the impact of such adoption until it performs the annual test for impairment in the next fiscal year.

2. Earnings Per Share

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Earnings Per Share [Text Block]

Earnings Per Share [Text Block]

2. Earnings Per Share

Reconciliations of the weighted average shares outstanding for basic and diluted Earnings Per Share are as follows:

	Years ended April 30,
	2013		2012
Basic EPS Shares outstanding (weighted average)		8,412,633		8,329,081
Effect of Dilutive Securities		192,018		211,874
Diluted EPS Shares outstanding		8,604,651		8,540,955

Dilutive securities consist of unexercised stock options and stock appreciation rights (“SARS”). The computation of diluted shares outstanding excludes those options and SARS with an exercise price in excess of the average market price of the Company’s common shares during the periods presented. The inclusion of such options and SARS in the computation of earnings per share would have been antidilutive. For the years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012, the number of excluded options and SARS were 939,375 and 733,375, respectively.

3. Costs and Estimated Earnings in Excess of Billings

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Long-term Contracts or Programs Disclosure [Text Block]

Long-term Contracts or Programs Disclosure [Text Block]

3. Costs and Estimated Earnings in Excess of Billings

At April 30, 2013 and 2012, costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings, net, consist of the following:

	2013			2012
	(in thousands)
Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings	$	10,228		$	9,552
Billings in excess of costs and estimated earnings		(1,611	)		(2,345	)
Net asset	$	8,617		$	7,207

Such amounts represent revenue recognized on long-term contracts that had not been billed at the balance sheet dates or represent a liability for amounts billed in excess of the revenue recognized. Amounts are billed to customers pursuant to contract terms. In general, the recorded amounts will be billed and collected or revenue recognized within twelve months of the balance sheet date. Revenue on these long-term contracts is accounted for on the percentage of completion basis. During the years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012, revenue recognized under percentage of completion contracts was approximately $35.6 million and $36.1 million, respectively.

4. Inventories

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Inventory Disclosure [Text Block]

Inventory Disclosure [Text Block]

4. Inventories

Inventories at April 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively, consisted of the following (in thousands):

	2013		2012
Raw Materials and Component Parts	$	21,066	$	15,813
Work in Progress		13,665		15,762
Finished Goods		2,790		2,724
	$	37,521	$	34,299

As of April 30, 2013 and 2012, approximately $29.9 million and $25.5 million, respectively, of total inventory is located in the United States, approximately $6.9 million and $8.2 million, respectively, is located in Belgium and approximately $0.7 million and $0.6 million, respectively, is located in China.

5. Marketable Securities

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Investments in Debt and Marketable Equity Securities (and Certain Trading Assets) Disclosure [Text Block]

Investments in Debt and Marketable Equity Securities (and Certain Trading Assets) Disclosure [Text Block]

5. Marketable Securities

The cost, gross unrealized gains, gross unrealized losses and fair market value of available-for-sale securities at April 30, 2013 and 2012 are as follows (in thousands):

	April 30, 2013
	Cost		Gross Unrealized Gains		Gross Unrealized Losses			Fair Market Value
Fixed income securities	$	10,285	$	297	$	0		$	10,582
Equity securities		6,490		1,266		(68	)		7,688
	$	16,775	$	1,563	$	(68	)	$	18,270

	April 30, 2012
	Cost		Gross Unrealized Gains		Gross Unrealized Losses			Fair Market Value
Fixed income securities	$	11,573	$	297	$	(6	)	$	11,864
Equity securities		5,411		552		(169	)		5,794
	$	16,984	$	849	$	(175	)	$	17,658

The following table presents the fair value and unrealized losses, aggregated by investment type and length of time that individual securities have been in a continuous unrealized loss position:

	Less than 12 months				12 Months or more					Total
	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses		Fair Value		Unrealized Losses			Fair Value		Unrealized Losses
April 30, 2013
Fixed Income Securities	$	-	$	-	$	-	$	-		$	-	$	-
Equity Securities		-		-		512		(68	)		512		(68	)
	$	-	$	-	$	512	$	(68	)	$	512	$	(68	)

	Less than 12 months					12 Months or more				Total
	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses			Fair Value		Unrealized Losses		Fair Value		Unrealized Losses
April 30, 2012
Fixed Income Securities	$	301	$	(6	)	$	-	$	-	$	301	$	(6	)
Equity Securities		539		(169	)		-		-		539		(169	)
	$	840	$	(175	)	$	-	$	-	$	840	$	(175	)

The Company regularly reviews its investment portfolio to identify and evaluate investments that have indications of possible impairment. The Company does not believe that its investments in marketable securities with unrealized losses at April 30, 2013 are other-than-temporary due to market volatility of the security’s fair value, analysts’ expectations and the Company’s ability to hold the securities for a period of time sufficient to allow for any anticipated recoveries in market value.

Proceeds from the sale or redemption of available-for-sale securities and the resulting gross realized gains and losses included in the determination of net income (loss) are as follows (in thousands):

	For the years ended April 30,
	2013		2012
Proceeds	$	3,006	$	6,636
Gross realized gains	$	47	$	20
Gross realized losses	$	-	$	-

Maturities of fixed income securities classified as available-for-sale at April 30, 2013 are as follows (at cost, in thousands):

Current	$	2,003
Due after one year through five years		7,478
Due after five years through ten years		804
	$	10,285

The fair value accounting framework provides a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (level 3 measurements).

The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are described below:

Level 1

Inputs to the valuation methodology are unadjusted quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets that the Company has the ability to access.

Level 2

Inputs to the valuation methodology include:

- Quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets;

- Quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in inactive markets

- Inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability;

- Inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data by correlation or other means.

Level 3

Inputs to the valuation methodology are unobservable and significant to the fair value measurement.

The asset’s or liability’s fair value measurement level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of any input that is significant to the fair value measurement. Valuation techniques used need to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. All of the Company’s investments in marketable securities are Level 1 assets.

6. Property, Plant and Equipment and Leases

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Property, Plant and Equipment Disclosure [Text Block]

Property, Plant and Equipment Disclosure [Text Block]

6. Property, Plant and Equipment and Leases

Property, plant and equipment at April 30, 2013 and 2012, consists of the following (in thousands):

	2013		2012
Buildings and building improvements	$	5,477	$	5,500
Machinery, equipment and furniture		44,758		42,850
		50,235		48,350
Less, accumulated depreciation		41,919		39,976
	$	8,316	$	8,374

Depreciation and amortization expense for the years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012 was $2,250,000 and $2,222,000, respectively.

Maintenance and repairs charged to operations for the years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012 was approximately $993,000 and $807,000, respectively.

The Company leases its Long Island, New York headquarters building at an annual rental of $600,000. During fiscal year 2013, the Company exercised its option to renew the lease for a second 5-year period at an annual rental of $800,000 beginning February 2014. The lease will end in January 2019. Under the terms of the lease, the Company is required to pay its proportionate share of real estate taxes, insurance and other charges.

In addition, the Company’s subsidiaries in New Jersey, China, France and California lease their office and manufacturing facilities. FEI-Elcom leases 32,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space at current monthly rental of approximately $27,000, increasing to $28,000 in the last two years of the lease which expires in March 2016. The lease for the FEI-Asia facility is for a one-year term with monthly rent of $6,800 through February 2014. FEI-Zyfer leases office and manufacturing space encompassing 27,850 square feet. Monthly rental payments are currently $28,700 and increase each year over the remaining 52 months of the lease term. Satel-FEI, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gillam-FEI, occupies office space under a 9-year lease, cancelable after three years, at an approximate rate of $1,100 per month.

Rent expense under operating leases was approximately $1.3 million and $1.0 million for the fiscal years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012. The Company records rent expense on its New York building and FEI-Zyfer facility on the straightline method over the lives of the respective leases. As a result, as of April 30, 2013 and 2012, the Company’s balance sheet includes deferred rent payable of approximately $310,000 and $338,000, respectively, which will be amortized over the respective rental periods.

Included in the assets of FEI-Elcom is machinery and equipment with a value of approximately $300,000 obtained under capital leases prior to the Company’s acquisition of FEI-Elcom. (See Note 11. Acquisition of Elcom Technologies, Inc.) FEI-Elcom’s remaining capital lease obligation at the date of acquisition was approximately $234,000.

Future minimum lease payments required by the leases are as follows (in thousands):

Years ending April 30,	Operating Leases		Capital Lease
2014	$	1,397	$	16
2015		1,503		-
2016		1,473		-
2017		1,174		-
2018		925		-
Thereafter		600		-
Less amounts representing interest		-		(1	)
Present value of future minimum lease payments	$	7,072	$	15

7. Debt Obligations and Subsequent Event	12 Months Ended
7. Debt Obligations and Subsequent Event	Apr. 30, 2013
Debt Disclosure [Text Block]
Debt Disclosure [Text Block]	7. Debt Obligations and Subsequent Event On June 6, 2013, the Company obtained a credit facility (the “Facility”) from JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (“JPMorgan”) pursuant to a credit agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) between the Company and JPMorgan. The maximum aggregate amount of the Facility is $25.0 million, of which the Company immediately borrowed $7.2 million, using the proceeds to repay the outstanding balance under the $9.3 million line of credit with another financial institution which formerly managed a substantial portion of the Company’s investment portfolio. As a result of this refinancing of short-term credit with a long-term obligation, as of April 30, 2013, the Company reclassified the $6.0 million balance payable under the replaced line of credit to long-term debt. Proceeds from the Facility will be used for working capital and to finance acquisitions. The Company may make borrowings under the Facility from either Tranche A or Tranche B or a combination of both, not to exceed $25.0 million. Pursuant to the Credit Agreement, the amount of Tranche A borrowings may not exceed the value of the Pledged Investments (as defined in the Credit Agreement). The amount of Tranche B borrowings may not exceed the lesser of (i) $15.0 million and (ii) the Borrowing Base (as defined in the Credit Agreement). The Facility is fully guaranteed by certain of the Company’s subsidiaries and is secured by, among other things, a pledge of substantially all personal property of the Company and certain of the Company’s subsidiaries. Borrowings under the Facility are evidenced by a line of credit note (the “Note”) and bear interest, payable monthly, at a rate equal to the LIBOR Rate, as determined from time to time by JPMorgan pursuant to the terms of the Note, plus a margin of 0.75% for Tranche A borrowings and 1.75% for Tranche B borrowings. The principal balance on the Note, along with any accrued and unpaid interest, is due and payable no later than June 5, 2018, which is the maturity date of the Facility. In addition, the Company is required to pay JPMorgan fees equal to 0.1% per annum on any unused portion of the Facility. The Credit Agreement contains a number of affirmative and negative covenants, including limitations on the incurrence of additional debt, liens on property, acquisitions, loans and guarantees, mergers, consolidations, liquidations and dissolutions, asset sales, and distributions and other payments in respect of the Company’s capital stock. The Credit Agreement also contains certain events of default customary for credit facilities of this type, including nonpayment of principal or interest when due, material incorrectness of representations and warranties when made, breach of covenants, bankruptcy and insolvency, unstayed material judgment beyond specified periods, and acceleration or payment default of other material indebtedness. The Credit Agreement requires the Company to maintain, as of the end of each fiscal quarter, a funded debt to EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) ratio and an interest charge coverage ratio. The calculation of both ratios is defined in the Credit Agreement. Under the Company’s subsequently replaced $9.3 million line of credit with the financial institution which formerly managed a substantial portion of its investment in marketable securities, during the fiscal year ended April 30, 2013, the Company borrowed $5.0 million and repaid the same amount. The highest borrowings under this line of credit during fiscal year 2013 was $8.5 million. The line was secured by the investments and had no maturity date so long as the Company maintained its investments with the financial institution. During fiscal years 2013 and 2012, advances against the line of credit bore interest at variable interest rates between 1.70% and 1.80%. The Company’s European subsidiaries have available 500,000 Euros (approximately $650,000 based on current rates of exchange between the dollar and the Euro) in bank credit lines to meet short-term cash flow requirements. As of April 30, 2013 and 2012, no amounts were outstanding under such lines of credit. Borrowings under the bank credit lines, if any, must be repaid within one year of receipt of funds. Interest on these credit lines varies from 0.5% to 1.5% over the EURO Interbank Offered rate (EURIBOR). At April 30, 2013 and 2012, the rate was 1.117% and 1.244%, respectively, based on the one-month EURIBOR.

9. Investment in Morion, Inc.	12 Months Ended
9. Investment in Morion, Inc.	Apr. 30, 2013
Investment Holdings [Text Block]
Investment Holdings [Text Block]	9. Investment in Morion, Inc. The Company has an investment in Morion, Inc., a privately-held Russian company, which manufactures high precision quartz resonators and crystal oscillators. The Company’s investment consists of 4.6% of Morion’s outstanding shares, accordingly, the Company accounts for its investment in Morion on the cost basis. This investment is included in investment in and loans receivable from affiliates in the accompanying balance sheets. During the fiscal years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012, the Company acquired product from Morion in the aggregate amount of approximately $54,000 and $224,000, respectively, and the Company sold product to Morion in the aggregate amount of approximately $355,000 and $1,162,000, respectively. At April 30, 2013, accounts receivable included $144,000 due from Morion and $8,000 were payable to Morion. On October 22, 2012, the Company entered into an agreement to license its rubidium oscillator production technology to Morion. The agreement requires the Company to sell certain fully-depreciated production equipment currently owned by the Company and to provide training to Morion employees to enable Morion to produce a minimum of 5,000 rubidium oscillators per year. Morion will pay the Company approximately $2.7 million for the license and the equipment plus 5% royalties on third party sales for a 5-year period following an initial production run. During the same 5-year period, the Company commits to purchase from Morion a minimum of approximately $400,000 worth of rubidium oscillators per year although Morion is not obligated to sell that amount to the Company. In November 2012, Morion paid the Company a $925,000 deposit under this agreement. This amount is considered deferred revenue and is included in accrued liabilities on the accompanying consolidated balance sheet. The United States Department of State has approved the technology transfer which is expected to be completed within a year from the date of the agreement.

10. Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets	12 Months Ended
10. Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets	Apr. 30, 2013
Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Text Block]
Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Text Block]	10. Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets During fiscal year 2004, the Company acquired FEI-Zyfer, Inc. (“FEI-Zyfer”). This acquisition resulted in the recording of $218,000 in goodwill. In February 2012, the Company acquired FEI-Elcom (see Note 11 Acquisition of Elcom Technologies, Inc.) resulting in the recording of goodwill in the amount of $398,000 plus other intangible assets with a value of $275,000. Management has determined that goodwill is not impaired as of April 30, 2013 and 2012. The other intangible asset will be amortized over a three-year period from the date of acquisition. Amortization expense for the years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012 was approximately $91,000 and $19,000, respectively.

11. Acquisition of Elcom Technologies, Inc.

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Business Combination Disclosure [Text Block]

Business Combination Disclosure [Text Block]

11. Acquisition of Elcom Technologies, Inc.

On February 21, 2012, the Company purchased 74.88% of the capital stock of Elcom. Prior to the acquisition, the Company had a minority ownership interest of 25.12% of the capital stock of Elcom. After the acquisition, the Company owned 100% and changed the subsidiary’s name to FEI-Elcom Tech, Inc. The Company acquired Elcom as, in addition to its own product line, Elcom provides design and technical support for the Company’s satellite business, which accounts for a significant amount of the Company’s consolidated revenue. For the acquisition, the Company paid approximately $4.1 million to the shareholders for their shares of common stock and an additional $910,000 to certain selling shareholders to settle their outstanding debt with Elcom. In addition the Company had notes due from Elcom with a book value of approximately $1.7 million which was forgiven as an additional investment in Elcom. Based on the amounts paid to the Elcom shareholders, the Company determined that the fair value of Elcom at the date of acquisition was approximately $7.9 million. The Company’s determination of the fair value of Elcom at the date of acquisition included an adjustment for a control premium of 15% based on the total value at the date of acquisition.

The fair value of Elcom at the date of the transaction was allocated to $4.6 million of net tangible assets, deferred taxes of $2.6 million, and approximately $700,000 of intangible assets, including goodwill of approximately $400,000. None of the goodwill is expected to be deductible for income tax purposes.

The FEI-Elcom transaction is considered a “step acquisition” by generally accepted accounting principles. Such an acquisition required the Company to remeasure its previously held equity interest in Elcom and adjust it to fair value. The difference between the fair value of the Company’s ownership in Elcom and the Company’s carrying value of its investment resulted in the recognition of a gain of approximately $730,000.

Prior to the acquisition of Elcom, the Company recorded its share of Elcom’s income or loss on the equity method. In addition, periodically the Company measured the market value of Elcom based on comparisons to comparable companies as well as Elcom’s forecasts of future financial results. For the year ended April 30, 2012, in addition to its equity share in the income or loss of Elcom during the year, the Company determined that its investment was impaired and recorded impairment charges in the amount $350,000.

During the fiscal years ended April 30, 2012, prior to the acquisition of Elcom, the Company acquired technical services from Elcom in the aggregate amount of approximately $16,000; sold product to Elcom in the amount of approximately $5,000; and the Company recorded interest income on notes to Elcom in the amount of approximately $87,000.

The estimated fair value of Elcom has been allocated as follows.

Cash	$	763
Accounts receivable		342
Inventory		3,233
Other current assets		61
Fixed assets		2,100
Goodwill and other intangible assets		673
Deferred tax assets		2,573
Other assets		180
Accounts payable		(350	)
Accrued expenses		(1,461	)
Capital lease obligations		(234	)
	$	7,880

The Company incurred approximately $230,000 in acquisition related costs applicable to the transaction during fiscal year 2012. These expenses are included in selling and administrative expenses in the Company’s consolidated statements of income.

The accompanying consolidated statements of income for the years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012 include the results of operations of FEI-Elcom since the date of acquisition, February 21, 2012. For the period from the acquisition date to April 30, 2012, FEI-Elcom had revenue of $840,000 and recorded an operating loss of $700,000. The pro forma financial information set forth below is based upon the Company’s historical consolidated statements of income for the year ended April 30, 2012, adjusted to give effect to the acquisition of FEI-Elcom as if it had occurred at the beginning of fiscal year 2012.

The pro forma financial information is presented for informational purposes only and may not be indicative of what actual results of operations would have been had the acquisition occurred on May 1, 2011, nor does it purport to represent the results of operations for future periods. The pro forma results of operations do not include the gain on the Company’s original investment of $730,000 or the impairment of the Company’s investment in Elcom during fiscal year 2012.

		Pro forma
		(unaudited)
		Year ended April 30, 2012
	(in thousands except per share data)
Revenues		$	70,955
Operating profit		$	5,147
Net income		$	5,863
Earnings per share- basic		$	0.70
Earnings per share- diluted		$	0.69

12. Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Compensation and Employee Benefit Plans [Text Block]

Compensation and Employee Benefit Plans [Text Block]

12. Employee Benefit Plans

Profit Sharing Plan:

The Company provides its U.S.-based employees with a profit sharing plan and trust under section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code. This plan allows all eligible employees to defer a portion of their income through voluntary contributions to the plan. In accordance with the provisions of the plan, the Company can make discretionary matching contributions in the form of cash or common stock. For the years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012, the Company contributed 52,715 and 42,370 shares of common stock, respectively. The approximate value of these shares at the date of contribution was $456,000 in fiscal year 2013 and $360,000 in fiscal year 2012. Contributed shares are drawn from the Company’s common stock held in treasury and are removed at the Company’s original cost of acquisition of such shares on a specific identification basis. In addition to changes in the treasury stock accounts, during fiscal years 2013 and 2012, such transactions increased additional paid in capital by $214,000 and $154,000, respectively.

Income Incentive Pool:

The Company maintains incentive bonus programs for certain employees which are based on operating profits of the individual subsidiaries to which the employees are assigned. The Company also adopted a plan for the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, which formula is based on consolidated pre-tax profits. The Company charged approximately $1.6 million and $1.8 million to selling and administrative expenses under these plans for the fiscal years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively.

Employee Stock Plans:

The Company has various stock plans, some of which have been approved by the Company’s stockholders, for key management employees, including officers and directors who are employees, certain consultants and independent members of the Board of Directors. The plans are Nonqualified Stock Options (“NQSO”) plans, Incentive Stock Option ("ISO”) plans and Stock Appreciation Rights (“SARS”). Under these plans, options or SARS are granted at the discretion of the Stock Option Committee at an exercise price not less than the fair market value of the Company's common stock on the date of grant.

Typically, options and SARS vest over a four-year period from the date of grant. The options and SARS expire ten years after the date of grant and are subject to certain restrictions on transferability of the shares obtained on exercise. As of April 30, 2012, a consultant, who is the son of the Company’s president, had been granted options to purchase 56,625 shares of Company stock under NQSO plans at a weighted average exercise price of $5.60. During the year ended April 30, 2013, the consultant elected a cashless exercise of 19,125 shares at an exercise price of $3.50 per share (resulting in a net issuance of 11,011 shares) and the remaining 37,500 options are outstanding and exercisable at an exercise price of $6.67. The options expire one year after the termination of the consulting agreement which has no expiration date. As of April 30, 2013, eligible employees had been granted options to purchase approximately 231,200 shares of Company stock under ISO plans, of which approximately 172,500 options with a weighted average exercise price of $11.55 are both outstanding and exercisable. During the year ended April 30, 2013, employees exercised ISOs for 58,700 shares of Company stock. During fiscal year 2013, the Company gave option holders the opportunity to exercise stock options either by paying the exercise price for the shares or to do a cashless exercise whereby the individual receives the net number of shares of stock equal in value to the exercised number of shares times the difference between the current market value of the Company’s stock and the exercise price. For the year ended April 30, 2013, the Company received approximately $20,000 upon the exercise of options for 3,000 shares. The balance of stock option exercises under ISO and NQSO plans, including the consultant shares above, which aggregated 74,825 shares were conducted under the cashless option. Accordingly, the Company issued 25,897 shares for cashless exercises and returned 48,928 shares to the pool of available shares which may be used for future grants. As of April 30, 2013, eligible employees and directors have been granted SARS based on approximately 1,550,000 shares of Company stock, of which approximately 1,498,625 shares are outstanding and approximately 871,000 with a weighted average exercise price of $7.93 are exercisable. When the SARS become exercisable, the Company will settle the SARS by issuing to exercising recipients the number of shares of stock equal to the appreciated value of the Company’s stock between the grant date and exercise date. At the time of exercise, the quantity of shares under the SARS grant equal to the exercise value divided by the then market value of the shares will be returned to the pool of available shares for future grant under the Company’s stock plan. During the year ended April 30, 2013, employees exercised SARS representing 35,250 shares of Company stock and received 18,685 shares of Company stock. The 16,565 share difference was returned to the pool of available shares and may be used for future grants.

The excess of the consideration received over the par value of the common stock or cost of treasury stock issued under both types of option plans is recognized as an increase in additional paid-in capital.

The following table summarizes information about stock option activity for the years ended April 30:

	Stock Options and Stock Appreciation Rights
	Shares			Weighted- Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding – May 1, 2011		1,433,525		$	8.22	6.6 years
Granted		253,000			7.36
Exercised		(7,950	)		5.35
Expired or Canceled		(48,875	)		11.10
Outstanding – April 30, 2012		1,629,700		$	7.95	6.4 years
Granted		209,000			8.82
Exercised		(113,075	)		5.63
Expired or Canceled		(17,000	)		5.16
Outstanding – April 30, 2013		1,708,625		$	8.23	6.1 years	$	3,697,430
Exercisable		1,081,000		$	8.46	4.8 years	$	2,324,626
Available for future grants		166,743

As of April 30, 2013, total unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested options and stock appreciation rights under the plans was approximately $2,149,000. These costs are expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 3.0 years.

During the years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012, 254,813 and 221,969 shares, respectively, vested, the fair value of which was approximately $847,000 and $748,000, respectively. The weighted average grant date fair value of stock appreciation rights granted during the years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012, were approximately $4.16 and $3.73, respectively.

Stock-based compensation costs capitalized as part of work in process inventory or included in the cost of sales of programs on which the Company recognizes revenue under the percentage of completion method were approximately $410,000 and $363,000 for the years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively. Selling and administrative expenses include stock-based compensation expense of approximately $537,000 and $359,000 for the years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively.

The Company classifies cash flows resulting from the tax benefits from tax deductions recognized upon the exercise of stock options or SARS (tax benefits) as financing cash flows. For the years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012, the Company realized $152,000 and $9,000 respectively, of tax benefits from the exercise of stock options and SARS.

Independent Contractor Stock Option Plan:

The Company had an Independent Contractor Stock Option Plan under which up to 350,000 shares could be granted. This plan was terminated in fiscal year 2006. An Independent Contractor Stock Option Committee determined to whom options may be granted from among eligible participants, the timing and duration of option grants, the option price, and the number of shares of common stock subject to each option. Options were granted to certain independent contractors at a price equal to the then fair market value of the Company’s common stock. The options were exercisable over specified periods per terms of the individual agreements. No compensation expense was recorded during the years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012 as no other grants were made in those years and previous grants have been fully expensed. As a result of the adoption by the stockholders of the 2005 Stock Award Plan, the Independent Contractor Stock Option Plan was discontinued. No additional grants will be made under this plan and the outstanding grant will expire in fiscal year 2015.

At April 30, 2013 and 2012, options for 30,000 shares, at a weighted average exercise price of $14.76, were issued and outstanding under this plan. No other activities occurred during the two year period ended April 30, 2013.

Restricted Stock Plan:

During fiscal year 1990, the Company adopted a Restricted Stock Plan which provided that key management employees could be granted rights to purchase an aggregate of 375,000 shares of the Company's common stock. The grants, transferability restrictions and purchase price were determined at the discretion of a special committee of the board of directors. The purchase price could not be less than the par value of the common stock. Transferability of shares is restricted for a four-year period, except in the event of a change in control as defined. As a result of the adoption by the Company’s stockholders of the 2005 Stock Award Plan, the Restricted Stock Plan was discontinued. No additional grants will be made under this plan. As of April 30, 2013 and 2012, grants for 7,500 shares are available to be purchased at a price of $4.00 per share.

Employee Stock Ownership Plan/Stock Bonus Plan:

During 1990, the Company amended its Stock Bonus Plan to become an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (“ESOP”). By means of a bank note, subsequently repaid, the Company reacquired 561,652 shares of its common stock during fiscal year 1990. These shares plus approximately 510,000 additional shares issued by the Company from its authorized, unissued shares were sold to the ESOP in May 1990. Shares were released for allocation to participants based on a formula as specified in the ESOP document. By the end of fiscal year 2000, all shares (1,071,652) had been allocated to participant accounts of which 406,102 shares remain in the ESOP.

Deferred Compensation Agreements:

The Company has a series of agreements with key employees providing for the payment of benefits upon retirement or death. Under these agreements, each key employee receives specified retirement payments for the remainder of the employee's life with a minimum payment of ten years' benefits to either the employee or his beneficiaries. The agreements also provide for lump sum payments upon termination of employment without cause and reduced benefits upon early retirement. The Company pays the benefits out of its working capital, but has also purchased whole life or term life insurance policies on the lives of certain of the participants to cover the optional lump sum obligations of the agreements upon the death of the participant. Deferred compensation expense charged to selling and administrative expenses during the years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012 was approximately $616,000 and $796,000, respectively.

Life Insurance Policies and Cash Held in Trust:

The whole-life insurance policies on the lives of certain participants covered by deferred compensation agreements have been placed in a trust. Upon the death of any insured participant, cash received from life insurance policies in excess of the Company’s deferred compensation obligations to the estate or beneficiaries of the deceased, are also placed in the trust. These assets belong to the Company until a change of control event, as defined in the trust agreement, should occur. At that time, the Company is required to add sufficient cash to the trust so as to match the deferred compensation liability described above. Such funds will be used to continue the deferred compensation arrangements following a change of control.

13. Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block]

Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block]

13. Income Taxes

The income before benefit for income taxes consisted of (in thousands):

	Year Ended April 30,
	2013			2012
U.S.	$	7,028		$	7,426
Foreign		(1,942	)		(612	)
	$	5,086		$	6,814

The benefit for income taxes consists of the following (in thousands):

	2013			2012
Current:
Federal	$	1,680		$	2,534
Foreign		-			-
State		40			6
Current provision		1,720			2,540
Deferred:
Federal		(145	)		16
Foreign		(585	)		(49	)
State		(80	)		(10	)
Deferred benefit		(810	)		(43	)
Change in valuation allowance		490			(3,057	)
Total benefit	$	1,400		$	(560	)

The following table reconciles the reported income tax (benefit) expense with the amount computed using the federal statutory income tax rate (in thousands):

	2013			2012
Computed "expected" tax expense	$	1,729		$	2,316
State and local tax, net of federal benefit		(81	)		(3	)
Valuation allowance on deferred tax assets		490			(3,057	)
Nontaxable income from foreign subsidiaries		29			72
Nondeductible expenses		178			143
Nontaxable life insurance cash value increase		(168	)		(150	)
Write off benefit from equity investment losses		-			466
Tax credits		(299	)		(350	)
Other items, net, none of which individually exceeds 5% of federal taxes at statutory rates		(478	)		3
	$	1,400		$	(560	)

The components of deferred taxes are as follows (in thousands):

	2013			2012
Deferred tax assets:
Employee benefits	$	6,490		$	5,320
Inventory		1,980			2,055
Accounts receivable		470			525
Tax credits		990			1,140
Other liabilities		270			332
Net operating loss carryforwards		3,040			2,800
Total deferred tax asset		13,240			12,172
Deferred tax liabilities:
Marketable securities		540			243
Property, plant and equipment		1,310			1,630
Net deferred tax asset		11,390			10,299
Valuation allowance		(1,900	)		(1,455	)
Net deferred tax assets	$	9,490		$	8,844

Net deferred tax assets are comprised of the following (in thousands):

	2013			2012
Gross current assets	$	3,890		$	4,092
Valuation allowance		-			(697	)
Current liabilities		(720	)		(243	)
Net current deferred tax assets		3,170			3,152

Gross noncurrent assets		9,600			8,080
Valuation allowance		(1,900	)		(758	)
Noncurrent liabilities		(1,380	)		(1,630	)
Net noncurrent deferred tax assets		6,320			5,692
Net deferred tax assets	$	9,490		$	8,844

The total valuation allowance relates to deferred tax assets of both domestic and foreign subsidiaries. For the year ended April 30, 2013, the change in valuation allowance was an increase of $445,000 which consists of the $490,000 deferred tax provision less a foreign exchange adjustment of $45,000. The change in valuation allowance during the year ended April 30, 2012 was a decrease of $3.1 million, including foreign exchange adjustments of $58,000 and the $43,000 tax effect of unrealized gains on marketable securities.

During the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2012, the Company reduced its valuation allowance against deferred tax assets in the amounts of $3.1 million. This recognition was the result of an evaluation of the Company’s net operating losses incurred in prior years, its recent history of three consecutive years of increasing profitability and recent contract bookings which increased the Company’s long-term backlog to a higher level. Company management believed such contracts would enable the Company to continue to generate operating profits in fiscal year 2013 and beyond. These adjustments were made in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2012 as the Company waited until it had results for the full year to make final its determination, given the existence of a loss in recent years, that it met the accounting threshold for determination that the recovery of the deferred tax asset was more likely than not and to estimate the appropriate balance of the valuation allowance, based on all available information. The amount of the non-cash valuation allowance reduction was based on management’s estimates of taxable income by reporting segment and taxing jurisdictions and the periods over which the Company believes deferred tax assets will be recoverable.

At April 30, 2013, the Company has available approximately $2.7 million in net operating losses available to offset future income of certain of its foreign subsidiaries. These loss carryforwards have no expiration date. As a result of the acquisition of FEI-Elcom, the Company has a federal net operating loss carryforward of $6.6 million which may be applied in annually limited amounts to offset future U.S.-sourced taxable income over the next 19 years.

The Company has evaluated its tax positions and has concluded that the tax positions meet the more-likely-than-not recognition threshold as specified under accounting standards. It is difficult to predict what would occur to change the Company’s unrecognized tax benefits over the next twelve months. The Company believes, however, that there should be no change during the next twelve months. The Company's tax returns for April 30, 2006 and 2007 have been examined by the Internal Revenue Service, which resulted in no material adjustments. The Company's tax years from April 30, 2005 through April 30, 2013 remain open to examination by state tax authorities and tax years from April 30, 2008 through April 30, 2013 remain open for examination by the Internal Revenue Service.

14. Product Warranties

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Product Warranty Disclosure [Text Block]

Product Warranty Disclosure [Text Block]

14. Product Warranties

The Company generally provides its customers with a one-year warranty regarding the manufactured quality and functionality of its products. For some limited products, the warranty period has been extended. The Company establishes warranty reserves based on its product history, current information on repair costs and annual sales levels. Changes in the carrying amount of accrued product warranty costs are as follows (in thousands):

	Year Ended April 30,
	2013			2012
Balance at beginning of year	$	778		$	145
Acquired reserve of FEI-Elcom					370
Warranty costs incurred		(324	)		(192	)
Product warranty accrual		144			455
Balance at end of year	$	598		$	778

15. Segment Information

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Segment Reporting Disclosure [Text Block]

Segment Reporting Disclosure [Text Block]

15. Segment Information

The Company operates under three reportable segments based on the geographic locations of its subsidiaries:

(1)

FEI-NY – operates out of New York and its operations consist principally of precision time and frequency control products used in three principal markets- communication satellites (both commercial and U.S. Government-funded); terrestrial cellular telephone or other ground-based telecommunication stations and other components and systems for the U.S. military.

(2)	Gillam-FEI - operates out of Belgium and France and primarily sells wireline synchronization and network management systems in non-U.S. markets. All sales from Gillam-FEI to the United States are to other segments of the Company.

(3)

FEI-Zyfer – operates out of California and its products incorporate Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies into systems and subsystems for secure communications, both government and commercial, and other locator applications. This segment also provides sales and support for the Company’s wireline telecommunications family of products, including US5G, which are sold in the United States market.

The FEI-NY segment also includes the operations of the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiaries, FEI-Elcom and FEI-Asia. FEI-Asia functions as a manufacturing facility for the FEI-NY segment with minimal sales to outside customers. FEI-Elcom, in addition to its own product line, provides design and technical support for the FEI-NY segment’s satellite business.

The Company’s Chief Executive Officer measures segment performance based on total revenues and profits generated by each geographic location rather than on the specific types of customers or end-users. Consequently, the Company determined that the segments indicated above most appropriately reflect the way the Company’s management views the business.

The accounting policies of the three segments are the same as those described in the “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies.” The Company evaluates the performance of its segments and allocates resources to them based on operating profit which is defined as income before investment income, interest expense and taxes. The European-based director of Gillam-FEI and the president of FEI-Zyfer manage the assets of these segments. All acquired assets, including intangible assets, are included in the assets of these two segments.

The table below presents information about reported segments for each of the years ended April 30 with reconciliation of segment amounts to consolidated amounts as reported in the statement of operations or the balance sheet for each of the years (in thousands):

	2013			2012
Net revenues:
FEI-NY	$	52,567		$	44,711
Gillam-FEI		11,825	**		12,811	**
FEI-Zyfer		10,523			11,494
less intersegment revenues		(5,983	)**		(5,421	)**
Consolidated revenues	$	68,932		$	63,595

Operating profit (loss):
FEI-NY	$	7,334		$	7,938
Gillam-FEI		(1,643	)**		138	**
FEI-Zyfer		(552	)		(511	)
Corporate		(460	)		(862	)
Consolidated operating profit	$	4,679		$	6,703

**For fiscal years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012, includes Gillam-FEI intersegment sales of $4.1 million and $3.9 million, respectively, to the FEI-NY and FEI-Zyfer segments. Such sales consist principally of manufacture of assemblies and units of a wireline synchronization product for ultimate production and sale in the U.S. plus the costs of ongoing research and development costs to support the product line. In the Gillam-FEI segment, these transactions increased the operating profit in each of the fiscal years. In addition, during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013, Gillam-FEI wrote down $1.4 million of accumulated costs related to hardware and software design of a product in connection with the French government’s smart electrical grid initiative. Based on slower than anticipated rollout of this project, the Company has less visibility regarding the probable schedule for obtaining production-level orders, which are now anticipated to occur no earlier than fiscal year 2015.

	2013			2012
Identifiable assets:
FEI-NY (approximately $3 million in China)	$	55,508		$	50,234
Gillam-FEI (all in Belgium or France)		18,071			20,407
FEI-Zyfer		10,418			9,685
less intersegment receivables		(18,903	)		(16,424	)
Corporate		43,815			42,325
Consolidated identifiable assets	$	108,909		$	106,227

Depreciation and amortization (allocated):
FEI-NY	$	1,892	$	1,590
Gillam-FEI		304		425
FEI-Zyfer		202		207
Corporate		15		19
Consolidated depreciation and amortization expense	$	2,413	$	2,241

Major Customers

The Company's products are sold to both commercial and governmental customers. For the years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012, approximately 62% and 46% respectively, of the Company's sales were made under contracts to the U.S. Government or subcontracts for U.S. Government end-use.

In fiscal year 2013, sales to three customers of the FEI-NY segment aggregated $34.1 million or 65% of that segment’s total sales. Each of these customers also exceeded 10% of the Company’s consolidated revenues. During the year ended April 30, 2013, in the Gillam-FEI segment, sales to one customer exceeded 10% of that segment’s revenues. In the FEI-Zyfer segment, two customers accounted for more than 10% of that segment’s sales. None of the customers in the Gillam-FEI and FEI-Zyfer segments accounted for more than 10% of consolidated revenues.

In fiscal year 2012, sales to three customers of the FEI-NY segment aggregated $29.3 million or 66% of that segment’s total sales. Each of these customers also exceeded 10% of the Company’s consolidated revenues. During the year ended April 30, 2012, in the Gillam-FEI segment, sales to one customer exceeded 10% of that segment’s revenues. In the FEI-Zyfer segment, one customer accounted for more than 10% of that segment’s sales. None of the customers in the Gillam-FEI and FEI-Zyfer segments accounted for more than 10% of consolidated revenues.

The loss by the Company of any one of these customers would have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business. The Company believes its relationship with these customers to be mutually satisfactory. Sales to major customers above can include commercial and governmental end users.

Foreign Sales

Revenues in each of the Company’s segments include sales to foreign governments or to companies located in foreign countries. Revenues, based on the location of the procurement entity and excluding intersegment sales, were derived from the following countries:

	(in thousands)
	2013		2012

France	$	9,527	$	8,480
Belgium		4,240		4,254
China		565		899
Other		3,390		7,533
	$	17,722	$	21,166

Accounting Policies, by Policy (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Consolidation, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Principles of Consolidation:

Cash and Cash Equivalents, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Cash Equivalents:

Marketable Securities, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Marketable Securities:

Receivables, Trade and Other Accounts Receivable, Allowance for Doubtful Accounts, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts:

Inventory, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Inventories:

Inventories, which consist of finished goods, work-in-process, raw materials and components, are accounted for at the lower of cost (specific and average) or market.

Property, Plant and Equipment, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Property, Plant and Equipment:

Depreciation, Depletion, and Amortization [Policy Text Block]

Depreciation and Amortization:

Amortization of identifiable intangible assets is based upon the expected lives of the assets and is recorded at a rate which approximates the Company’s utilization of the assets.

Intangible Assets, Finite-Lived, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Intangible Assets:

Goodwill and Intangible Assets, Goodwill, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Goodwill:

Revenue Recognition, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Revenue and Cost Recognition:

On production-type orders, revenue is recorded as units are delivered with the related cost of sales recognized on each shipment based upon a percentage of estimated final program costs.

Comprehensive Income, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Comprehensive Income:

Research and Development Expense, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Research and Development expenses:

Income Tax, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Income Taxes:

Earnings Per Share, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Earnings Per Share:

Fair Value of Financial Instruments, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Fair Values of Financial Instruments:

Foreign Currency Transactions and Translations Policy [Policy Text Block]

Foreign Operations and Foreign Currency Adjustments:

Share-based Compensation, Option and Incentive Plans Policy [Policy Text Block]

Equity-based Compensation:

	Years ended April 30
	2013						2012
Expected volatility					40	%					40	%
Dividend yield					0.0	%					0.0	%
Risk-free interest rate		1.31	%	to	1.35	%		1.30	%	to	1.34	%
Expected lives					8.5 years						10 years

Concentration Risk, Credit Risk, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Concentration of Credit Risk

New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy [Policy Text Block]

New Accounting Pronouncements:

1. Summary of Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block]

Schedule of Share-based Payment Award, Stock Options, Valuation Assumptions [Table Text Block]

	Years ended April 30
	2013						2012
Expected volatility					40	%					40	%
Dividend yield					0.0	%					0.0	%
Risk-free interest rate		1.31	%	to	1.35	%		1.30	%	to	1.34	%
Expected lives					8.5 years						10 years

5. Marketable Securities (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Investments in Debt and Marketable Equity Securities (and Certain Trading Assets) Disclosure [Text Block]

Available-for-sale Securities [Table Text Block]

The cost, gross unrealized gains, gross unrealized losses and fair market value of available-for-sale securities at April 30, 2013 and 2012 are as follows (in thousands):

	April 30, 2013
	Cost		Gross Unrealized Gains		Gross Unrealized Losses			Fair Market Value
Fixed income securities	$	10,285	$	297	$	0		$	10,582
Equity securities		6,490		1,266		(68	)		7,688
	$	16,775	$	1,563	$	(68	)	$	18,270

	April 30, 2012
	Cost		Gross Unrealized Gains		Gross Unrealized Losses			Fair Market Value
Fixed income securities	$	11,573	$	297	$	(6	)	$	11,864
Equity securities		5,411		552		(169	)		5,794
	$	16,984	$	849	$	(175	)	$	17,658

Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments [Table Text Block]

The following table presents the fair value and unrealized losses, aggregated by investment type and length of time that individual securities have been in a continuous unrealized loss position:

	Less than 12 months				12 Months or more					Total
	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses		Fair Value		Unrealized Losses			Fair Value		Unrealized Losses
April 30, 2013
Fixed Income Securities	$	-	$	-	$	-	$	-		$	-	$	-
Equity Securities		-		-		512		(68	)		512		(68	)
	$	-	$	-	$	512	$	(68	)	$	512	$	(68	)

	Less than 12 months					12 Months or more				Total
	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses			Fair Value		Unrealized Losses		Fair Value		Unrealized Losses
April 30, 2012
Fixed Income Securities	$	301	$	(6	)	$	-	$	-	$	301	$	(6	)
Equity Securities		539		(169	)		-		-		539		(169	)
	$	840	$	(175	)	$	-	$	-	$	840	$	(175	)

Gain (Loss) on Investments [Table Text Block]

	For the years ended April 30,
	2013		2012
Proceeds	$	3,006	$	6,636
Gross realized gains	$	47	$	20
Gross realized losses	$	-	$	-

Fair Value, by Balance Sheet Grouping [Table Text Block]

Maturities of fixed income securities classified as available-for-sale at April 30, 2013 are as follows (at cost, in thousands):

Current	$	2,003
Due after one year through five years		7,478
Due after five years through ten years		804
	$	10,285

6. Property, Plant and Equipment and Leases (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Property, Plant and Equipment Disclosure [Text Block]

Property, Plant and Equipment [Table Text Block]

Property, plant and equipment at April 30, 2013 and 2012, consists of the following (in thousands):

	2013		2012
Buildings and building improvements	$	5,477	$	5,500
Machinery, equipment and furniture		44,758		42,850
		50,235		48,350
Less, accumulated depreciation		41,919		39,976
	$	8,316	$	8,374

Schedule of Future Minimum Lease Payments for Operating and Capital Leases [Table Text Block]

Future minimum lease payments required by the leases are as follows (in thousands):

Years ending April 30,	Operating Leases		Capital Lease
2014	$	1,397	$	16
2015		1,503		-
2016		1,473		-
2017		1,174		-
2018		925		-
Thereafter		600		-
Less amounts representing interest		-		(1	)
Present value of future minimum lease payments	$	7,072	$	15

11. Acquisition of Elcom Technologies, Inc. (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Business Combination Disclosure [Text Block]

Schedule of Business Acquisitions, by Acquisition [Table Text Block]

The estimated fair value of Elcom has been allocated as follows.

Cash	$	763
Accounts receivable		342
Inventory		3,233
Other current assets		61
Fixed assets		2,100
Goodwill and other intangible assets		673
Deferred tax assets		2,573
Other assets		180
Accounts payable		(350	)
Accrued expenses		(1,461	)
Capital lease obligations		(234	)
	$	7,880

Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information [Table Text Block]

		Pro forma
		(unaudited)
		Year ended April 30, 2012
	(in thousands except per share data)
Revenues		$	70,955
Operating profit		$	5,147
Net income		$	5,863
Earnings per share- basic		$	0.70
Earnings per share- diluted		$	0.69

12. Employee Benefit Plans (Tables) (Employee Stock Option [Member])

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Employee Stock Option [Member]

12. Employee Benefit Plans (Tables) [Line Items]

Schedule of Share-based Compensation, Stock Options, Activity [Table Text Block]

The following table summarizes information about stock option activity for the years ended April 30:

	Stock Options and Stock Appreciation Rights
	Shares			Weighted- Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding – May 1, 2011		1,433,525		$	8.22	6.6 years
Granted		253,000			7.36
Exercised		(7,950	)		5.35
Expired or Canceled		(48,875	)		11.10
Outstanding – April 30, 2012		1,629,700		$	7.95	6.4 years
Granted		209,000			8.82
Exercised		(113,075	)		5.63
Expired or Canceled		(17,000	)		5.16
Outstanding – April 30, 2013		1,708,625		$	8.23	6.1 years	$	3,697,430
Exercisable		1,081,000		$	8.46	4.8 years	$	2,324,626
Available for future grants		166,743

13. Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block]

Schedule of Income before Income Tax, Domestic and Foreign [Table Text Block]

The income before benefit for income taxes consisted of (in thousands):

	Year Ended April 30,
	2013			2012
U.S.	$	7,028		$	7,426
Foreign		(1,942	)		(612	)
	$	5,086		$	6,814

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit) [Table Text Block]

The benefit for income taxes consists of the following (in thousands):

	2013			2012
Current:
Federal	$	1,680		$	2,534
Foreign		-			-
State		40			6
Current provision		1,720			2,540
Deferred:
Federal		(145	)		16
Foreign		(585	)		(49	)
State		(80	)		(10	)
Deferred benefit		(810	)		(43	)
Change in valuation allowance		490			(3,057	)
Total benefit	$	1,400		$	(560	)

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation [Table Text Block]

The following table reconciles the reported income tax (benefit) expense with the amount computed using the federal statutory income tax rate (in thousands):

	2013			2012
Computed "expected" tax expense	$	1,729		$	2,316
State and local tax, net of federal benefit		(81	)		(3	)
Valuation allowance on deferred tax assets		490			(3,057	)
Nontaxable income from foreign subsidiaries		29			72
Nondeductible expenses		178			143
Nontaxable life insurance cash value increase		(168	)		(150	)
Write off benefit from equity investment losses		-			466
Tax credits		(299	)		(350	)
Other items, net, none of which individually exceeds 5% of federal taxes at statutory rates		(478	)		3
	$	1,400		$	(560	)

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities [Table Text Block]

The components of deferred taxes are as follows (in thousands):

	2013			2012
Deferred tax assets:
Employee benefits	$	6,490		$	5,320
Inventory		1,980			2,055
Accounts receivable		470			525
Tax credits		990			1,140
Other liabilities		270			332
Net operating loss carryforwards		3,040			2,800
Total deferred tax asset		13,240			12,172
Deferred tax liabilities:
Marketable securities		540			243
Property, plant and equipment		1,310			1,630
Net deferred tax asset		11,390			10,299
Valuation allowance		(1,900	)		(1,455	)
Net deferred tax assets	$	9,490		$	8,844

	2013			2012
Gross current assets	$	3,890		$	4,092
Valuation allowance		-			(697	)
Current liabilities		(720	)		(243	)
Net current deferred tax assets		3,170			3,152

Gross noncurrent assets		9,600			8,080
Valuation allowance		(1,900	)		(758	)
Noncurrent liabilities		(1,380	)		(1,630	)
Net noncurrent deferred tax assets		6,320			5,692
Net deferred tax assets	$	9,490		$	8,844

15. Segment Information (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Segment Reporting Disclosure [Text Block]

Reconciliation of Operating Profit (Loss) from Segments to Consolidated [Table Text Block]

	2013			2012
Net revenues:
FEI-NY	$	52,567		$	44,711
Gillam-FEI		11,825	**		12,811	**
FEI-Zyfer		10,523			11,494
less intersegment revenues		(5,983	)**		(5,421	)**
Consolidated revenues	$	68,932		$	63,595

Operating profit (loss):
FEI-NY	$	7,334		$	7,938
Gillam-FEI		(1,643	)**		138	**
FEI-Zyfer		(552	)		(511	)
Corporate		(460	)		(862	)
Consolidated operating profit	$	4,679		$	6,703

Reconciliation of Assets from Segment to Consolidated [Table Text Block]

The Company operates under three reportable segments based on the geographic locations of its subsidiaries:

	2013			2012
Identifiable assets:
FEI-NY (approximately $3 million in China)	$	55,508		$	50,234
Gillam-FEI (all in Belgium or France)		18,071			20,407
FEI-Zyfer		10,418			9,685
less intersegment receivables		(18,903	)		(16,424	)
Corporate		43,815			42,325
Consolidated identifiable assets	$	108,909		$	106,227

Depreciation and amortization (allocated):
FEI-NY	$	1,892	$	1,590
Gillam-FEI		304		425
FEI-Zyfer		202		207
Corporate		15		19
Consolidated depreciation and amortization expense	$	2,413	$	2,241

Schedule of Revenue from External Customers Attributed to Foreign Countries by Geographic Area [Table Text Block]

	(in thousands)
	2013		2012

France	$	9,527	$	8,480
Belgium		4,240		4,254
China		565		899
Other		3,390		7,533
	$	17,722	$	21,166

1. Summary of Accounting Policies (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
1. Summary of Accounting Policies (Details) (USD $)	Apr. 30, 2013
1. Summary of Accounting Policies (Details) [Line Items]
Common Stock, Dividends, Per Share, Cash Paid (in Dollars per share)	$ 0.20
Building [Member]
1. Summary of Accounting Policies (Details) [Line Items]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life	40 years
Other Depreciable Assets [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
1. Summary of Accounting Policies (Details) [Line Items]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life	3 years
Other Depreciable Assets [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
1. Summary of Accounting Policies (Details) [Line Items]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life	10 years
Certification Marks [Member]
1. Summary of Accounting Policies (Details) [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life	3 years

1. Summary of Accounting Policies (Details) - Schedule of Valuation Assumptions	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Schedule of Valuation Assumptions [Abstract]
Expected volatility	40.00%	40.00%
Dividend yield	0.00%	0.00%
Risk-free interest rate	1.31%	1.30%
Risk-free interest rate	1.35%	1.34%
Expected lives	8 years 6 months	10 years

2. Earnings Per Share (Details) - Schedule of Earnings Per Share Reconciliation	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Schedule of Earnings Per Share Reconciliation [Abstract]
Basic EPS Shares outstanding (weighted average)	8,412,633	8,329,081
Effect of Dilutive Securities	192,018	211,874
Diluted EPS Shares outstanding	8,604,651	8,540,955

3. Costs and Estimated Earnings in Excess of Billings (Details) - Costs and Estimated Earnings in Excess of Billings, Net (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Costs and Estimated Earnings in Excess of Billings, Net [Abstract]
Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings	$ 10,228	$ 9,552
Billings in excess of costs and estimated earnings	(1,611)	(2,345)
Net asset	$ 8,617	$ 7,207

4. Inventories (Details) - Schedule of Inventory, Current (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Schedule of Inventory, Current [Abstract]
Raw Materials and Component Parts	$ 21,066	$ 15,813
Work in Progress	13,665	15,762
Finished Goods	2,790	2,724
	$ 37,521	$ 34,299

5. Marketable Securities (Details) - Costs, Gross Unrealized Gains, Gross Unrealized Losses and Fair Market Value of Available-For-Sale Securities (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Cost	$ 16,775	$ 16,984
Gross Unrealized Gains	1,563	849
Gross Unrealized Losses	(68)	(175)
Fair Market Value	18,270	17,658
Fixed Income Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Cost	10,285	11,573
Gross Unrealized Gains	297	297
Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(6)
Fair Market Value	10,582	11,864
Equity Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Cost	6,490	5,411
Gross Unrealized Gains	1,266	552
Gross Unrealized Losses	(68)	(169)
Fair Market Value	$ 7,688	$ 5,794

5. Marketable Securities (Details) - Fair Value and Unrealized Losses, Aggregated by Investment Type and Length of Time Individual Securities have been Continuious Unrealized Loss Position (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
5. Marketable Securities (Details) - Fair Value and Unrealized Losses, Aggregated by Investment Type and Length of Time Individual Securities have been Continuious Unrealized Loss Position [Line Items]
Fair Value, Less than 12 months		$ 840
Unrealized Losses, Less than 12 months		(175)
Fair Value, More than 12 months	512	0
Unrealized Losses, More than 12 months	(68)	0
Fair Value	512	840
Unrealized Losses	(68)	(175)
Fixed Income Securities [Member]
5. Marketable Securities (Details) - Fair Value and Unrealized Losses, Aggregated by Investment Type and Length of Time Individual Securities have been Continuious Unrealized Loss Position [Line Items]
Fair Value, Less than 12 months	0	301
Unrealized Losses, Less than 12 months	0	(6)
Fair Value, More than 12 months	0	0
Unrealized Losses, More than 12 months	0	0
Fair Value	0	301
Unrealized Losses	0	(6)
Equity Securities [Member]
5. Marketable Securities (Details) - Fair Value and Unrealized Losses, Aggregated by Investment Type and Length of Time Individual Securities have been Continuious Unrealized Loss Position [Line Items]
Fair Value, Less than 12 months	0	539
Unrealized Losses, Less than 12 months	0	(169)
Fair Value, More than 12 months	512	0
Unrealized Losses, More than 12 months	(68)	0
Fair Value	512	539
Unrealized Losses	$ (68)	$ (169)

5. Marketable Securities (Details) - Gain (Loss) on Investments (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Gain (Loss) on Investments [Abstract]
Proceeds	$ 3,006	$ 6,636
Gross realized gains	47	20
Gross realized losses	$ 0	$ 0

5. Marketable Securities (Details) - Maturities of Fixed Income Securities Classified as Available-For-Sale (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Current	$ 18,270	$ 17,658
Fixed Income Securities [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Current	2,003
Due after one year through five years	7,478
Due after five years through ten years	804
	$ 10,285

6. Property, Plant and Equipment and Leases (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
6. Property, Plant and Equipment and Leases (Details) [Line Items]
Depreciation	$ 2,250,000	$ 2,222,000
Cost of Property Repairs and Maintenance	993,000	807,000
Operating Leases, Rent Expense	1,300,000	1,000,000
Deferred Rent Credit, Noncurrent	310,000	338,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Capital Lease Obligation	0	234,000
FEI-Elcom Machinery and Equipment [Member]
6. Property, Plant and Equipment and Leases (Details) [Line Items]
Capital Leased Assets, Gross	300,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Capital Lease Obligation	234,000
Long Island, NY Headquarters [Member]
6. Property, Plant and Equipment and Leases (Details) [Line Items]
Operating Leases, Rent Expense	600,000
Description of Lessee Leasing Arrangements, Operating Leases	the Company exercised its option to renew the lease for a second 5-year period at an annual rental of $800,000 beginning February 2014. The lease will end in January 2019.
FEI-Elcom Office and Manufacturing Lease [Member]
6. Property, Plant and Equipment and Leases (Details) [Line Items]
Description of Lessee Leasing Arrangements, Operating Leases	current monthly rental of approximately $27,000, increasing to $28,000 in the last two years of the lease which expires in March 2016
Area of Real Estate Property (in Square Feet)	32,000
Operating Leases, Rent Expense, Minimum Rentals	27,000
FEI-Asia Facility Lease [Member]
6. Property, Plant and Equipment and Leases (Details) [Line Items]
Description of Lessee Leasing Arrangements, Operating Leases	one-year term with monthly rent of $6,800 through February 2014
Operating Leases, Rent Expense, Minimum Rentals	6,800
FEI-Zyfer Office and Manufacturing Leases [Member]
6. Property, Plant and Equipment and Leases (Details) [Line Items]
Description of Lessee Leasing Arrangements, Operating Leases	Monthly rental payments are currently $28,700 and increase each year over the remaining 52 months of the lease term.
Area of Real Estate Property (in Square Feet)	27,850
Operating Leases, Rent Expense, Minimum Rentals	28,700
Satel-FEI Office Lease [Member]
6. Property, Plant and Equipment and Leases (Details) [Line Items]
Description of Lessee Leasing Arrangements, Operating Leases	9-year lease, cancelable after three years, at an approximate rate of $1,100 per month
Operating Leases, Rent Expense, Minimum Rentals	$ 1,100

6. Property, Plant and Equipment and Leases (Details) - Schedule of Property, Plant and Equipment (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, gross	$ 50,235	$ 48,350
Less, accumulated depreciation	41,919	39,976
	8,316	8,374
Building and Building Improvements [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, gross	5,477	5,500
Machinery, Equipment and Furniture [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, gross	$ 44,758	$ 42,850

6. Property, Plant and Equipment and Leases (Details) - Schedule of Future Minimum Lease Payments (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Apr. 30, 2013
Operating Lease Obligations [Member]
6. Property, Plant and Equipment and Leases (Details) - Schedule of Future Minimum Lease Payments [Line Items]
2014	$ 1,397
2015	1,503
2016	1,473
2017	1,174
2018	925
Thereafter	600
Less amounts representing interest	0
Present value of future minimum lease payments	7,072
Capital Lease Obligations [Member]
6. Property, Plant and Equipment and Leases (Details) - Schedule of Future Minimum Lease Payments [Line Items]
2014	16
2015	0
2016	0
2017	0
2018	0
Thereafter	0
Less amounts representing interest	(1)
Present value of future minimum lease payments	$ 15

7. Debt Obligations and Subsequent Event (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended			12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012	Jun. 06, 2013 Subsequent Event [Member] JP Morgan Chase Bank [Member]	Jun. 06, 2013 Subsequent Event [Member] Former Financial Institution [Member]	Jun. 06, 2013 Subsequent Event [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Former Financial Institution [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 European Subsidiaries Bank Credit Lines [Member]	Apr. 30, 2012 European Subsidiaries Bank Credit Lines [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Maximum [Member] Former Financial Institution [Member]	Apr. 30, 2012 Maximum [Member] Former Financial Institution [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Minimum [Member] Former Financial Institution [Member]
7. Debt Obligations and Subsequent Event (Details) [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity			$ 25,000,000				$ 650,000
Proceeds from Lines of Credit	5,000,000	6,344,000	7,200,000			5,000,000			8,500,000
Line of Credit Facility, Amount Outstanding	0			9,300,000				0
Long-term Debt					$ 6,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Borrowing Capacity, Description			Pursuant to the Credit Agreement, the amount of Tranche A borrowings may not exceed the value of the Pledged Investments (as defined in the Credit Agreement).The amount of Tranche B borrowings may not exceed the lesser of (i) $15.0 million and (ii) the Borrowing Base (as defined in the Credit Agreement).
Line of Credit Facility, Collateral			The Facility is fully guaranteed by certain of the Company's subsidiaries and is secured by, among other things, a pledge of substantially all personal property of the Company and certain of the Company's subsidiaries.			The line was secured by the investments and had no maturity date so long as the Company maintained its investments with the financial institution.
Line of Credit Facility, Interest Rate Description			rate equal to the LIBOR Rate, as determined from time to time by JPMorgan pursuant to the terms of the Note,plusamargin of0.75%for Tranche A borrowings and1.75%for Tranche B borrowings.				varies from 0.5% to 1.5% over the EURO Interbank Offered rate (EURIBOR)
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date			Jun. 05, 2018
Line of Credit Facility, Commitment Fee Description			required to pay JPMorgan fees equal to 0.1% per annum on any unused portion of the Facility.
Line of Credit Facility, Interest Rate During Period										1.80%	1.70%
Line of Credit Facility, Frequency of Payment and Payment Terms							within one year of receipt of funds
Line of Credit Facility, Interest Rate at Period End							1.117%	1.244%

8. Accrued Liabilities (Details) - Schedule of Accrued Liabilities (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012	Apr. 30, 2011
Schedule of Accrued Liabilities [Abstract]
Vacation and other compensation	$ 1,794	$ 1,712
Incentive compensation	1,634	1,799
Payroll taxes	1,323	1,485
Deferred revenue	1,620	137
Warranty reserve	598	778	145
Other	995	1,075
	$ 7,964	$ 6,986

9. Investment in Morion, Inc. (Details) (Morion Inc [Member], USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Morion Inc [Member]
9. Investment in Morion, Inc. (Details) [Line Items]
Cost Method Investment Ownership Percentage	4.60%
Related Party Transaction, Purchases from Related Party	$ 54,000	$ 224,000
Revenue from Related Parties	355,000	1,162,000
Due from Related Parties, Current	144,000
Due to Related Parties, Current	8,000
Related Party Transaction, Terms and Manner of Settlement	The agreement requires the Company to sell certain fully-depreciated production equipment currently owned by the Company and to provide training to Morion employees to enable Morion to produce a minimum of 5,000 rubidium oscillators per year.
Related Party Transaction, Description of Transaction	$2.7 million for the license and the equipment plus 5% royalties on third party sales for a 5-year period following an initial production run.
Purchase Commitment, Remaining Minimum Amount Committed	400,000
Proceeds from Deposits from Customers	$ 925,000

10. Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012	Apr. 30, 2004 Frequency Electronics Inc Zyfer [Member]	Apr. 30, 2012 FEI-Elcom [Member]
10. Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets (Details) [Line Items]
Goodwill			$ 218,000	$ 398,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Intangible Assets, Other than Goodwill				275,000
Amortization of Intangible Assets	$ 91,000	$ 19,000

11. Acquisition of Elcom Technologies, Inc. (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
11. Acquisition of Elcom Technologies, Inc. (Details) [Line Items]
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Deferred Tax Assets Noncurrent	$ 0	$ 2,573,000
Business Acquisition Purchase Price Allocation Intangible Assets and Goodwill	0	673,000
Gain (Loss) on Investments	0	730,000
Revenues	68,932,000	63,595,000
Common Stock Shares [Member]
11. Acquisition of Elcom Technologies, Inc. (Details) [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Gross		4,100,000
Certain Selling Shareholders to Settle Debt [Member] \| FEI-Elcom [Member]
11. Acquisition of Elcom Technologies, Inc. (Details) [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Gross		910,000
Elcom Technologies Inc [Member]
11. Acquisition of Elcom Technologies, Inc. (Details) [Line Items]
Business Combination, Step Acquisition, Equity Interest in Acquiree, Percentage		74.88%
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Noncontrolling Owners		25.12%
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Intangible Assets, Other than Goodwill		4,600,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Deferred Tax Assets Noncurrent		2,600,000
Business Acquisition Purchase Price Allocation Intangible Assets and Goodwill		700,000
Goodwill		400,000
Gain (Loss) on Investments		730,000
Other Asset Impairment Charges		350,000
Professional Fees		16,000
Sales Revenue, Goods, Net		5,000
Interest Income, Related Party		87,000
Business Combination, Acquisition Related Costs		230,000
Revenues		840,000
Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest		700,000
FEI-Elcom [Member]
11. Acquisition of Elcom Technologies, Inc. (Details) [Line Items]
Business Acquisition, Percentage of Voting Interests Acquired		100.00%
Business Combination Consideration Transferre Forgiveness of Debt		1,700,000
Business Combination, Step Acquisition, Equity Interest in Acquiree, Fair Value		7,900,000
Fair Value Inputs, Control Premium		15.00%
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Intangible Assets, Other than Goodwill		275,000
Goodwill		$ 398,000

11. Acquisition of Elcom Technologies, Inc. (Details) - Schedule of Business Acquisition (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Schedule of Business Acquisition [Abstract]
Cash	$ 0	$ 763
Accounts receivable	0	342
Inventory	0	3,233
Other current assets	0	61
Fixed assets	0	2,100
Goodwill and other intangible assets		673
Deferred tax assets	0	2,573
Other assets	0	180
Accounts payable	0	(350)
Accrued expenses	0	(1,461)
Capital lease obligations	0	(234)
	$ 0	$ 7,880

11. Acquisition of Elcom Technologies, Inc. (Details) - Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2012
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 70,955
Operating profit	5,147
Net income	$ 5,863
Earnings per share- basic (in Dollars per share)	$ 0.70
Earnings per share- diluted (in Dollars per share)	$ 0.69

12. Employee Benefit Plans (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended												12 Months Ended
12. Employee Benefit Plans (Details) (USD $)	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012	Apr. 30, 2000	Apr. 30, 2013 Cashless Exercise of Options [Member] Restricted Stock Plan [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Cashless Exercise of Options [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Stock Issued for Cash [Member]	Apr. 30, 1990 Shares Reacquired During 1990 [Member]	Apr. 30, 1990 Additional Shares Issued [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Nonqualified Stock Options [Member]	Apr. 30, 2012 Nonqualified Stock Options [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Incentive Stock Options [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Stock Appreciation Rights [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Restricted Stock Plan [Member]	Apr. 30, 2012 Restricted Stock Plan [Member]	Apr. 30, 1990 Restricted Stock Plan [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Employee Stock Plans [Member]	Apr. 30, 2012 Employee Stock Plans [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Independent Contractor Stock Option Plan [Member]	Apr. 30, 2012 Independent Contractor Stock Option Plan [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Deferred Compensation Arrangement with Individual, by Type of Compensation, Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits [Member]	Apr. 30, 2012 Deferred Compensation Arrangement with Individual, by Type of Compensation, Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 United States Postretirement Benefit Plan of US Entity, Defined Benefit [Member]	Apr. 30, 2012 United States Postretirement Benefit Plan of US Entity, Defined Benefit [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Income Incentive Pool [Member]	Apr. 30, 2012 Income Incentive Pool [Member]
12. Employee Benefit Plans (Details) [Line Items]
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, Employee Benefit Plan																						52,715	42,370
Stock Issued During Period, Value, Employee Benefit Plan (in Dollars)	$ 456,000	$ 360,000																				$ 456,000	$ 360,000
Adjustments to Additional Paid in Capital, Share-based Compensation, Employee Stock Purchase Program, Requisite Service Period Recognition (in Dollars)																						214,000	154,000
Accrued Bonuses (in Dollars)																								1,600,000	1,800,000
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Award Vesting Period									4 years		4 years	4 years
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Expiration Period									10 years		10 years	10 years
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Grants in Period, Gross										56,625	231,200	1,550,000						30,000	30,000
Share-based Compensation Arrangements by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Grants in Period, Weighted Average Exercise Price (in Dollars per share)										$ 5.60
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Exercises in Period				19,125	74,825						58,700	35,250
Share-based Compensation by Share-based Payment Award, Options Exercise Price of Options (in Dollars per share)				$ 3.50					$ 6.67
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, Share-based Compensation, Net of Forfeitures				11,011	25,897	3,000						18,685
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Outstanding, Number									37,500		172,500	1,498,625						30,000	30,000
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Exercisable, Number									37,500		172,500	871,000
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Expiration Terms									expire one year after the termination of the consulting agreement which has no expiration date.
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Outstanding, Weighted Average Exercise Price (in Dollars per share)											$ 11.55							$ 14.76	$ 14.76
Employee Service Share-based Compensation, Cash Received from Exercise of Stock Options (in Dollars)						20,000
Share-based Compensation by Share-based Payment Award, Options Available for Future Grant	48,928											16,565
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Exercisable, Weighted Average Exercise Price (in Dollars per share)												$ 7.93
Employee Service Share-based Compensation, Nonvested Awards, Compensation Not yet Recognized, Stock Options (in Dollars)																2,149,000
Employee Service Share-based Compensation, Nonvested Awards, Compensation Cost Not yet Recognized, Period for Recognition																3 years
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Vested, Number of Shares																254,813	221,969
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Vested in Period, Fair Value (in Dollars)																847,000	748,000
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Vested, Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value (in Dollars per share)																$ 4.16	$ 3.73
Employee Benefits and Share-based Compensation (in Dollars)	1,072,000	1,156,000														410,000	363,000
Share-based Compensation (in Dollars)	947,000	862,000														537,000	359,000	0	0
Deferred Tax Expense from Stock Options Exercised (in Dollars)																152,000	9,000
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Number of Shares Authorized													7,500	7,500	375,000			350,000
Restricted Stock Award, Transferability Period													4 years
Share Price (in Dollars per share)														$ 4.00
Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), Shares Contributed to ESOP							561,652	510,000
Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), Number of Allocated Shares			1,071,652
Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), Shares in ESOP	406,102
Deferred Compensation Arrangement with Individual, Description																				Under these agreements, each key employee receives specified retirement payments for the remainder of the employee's life with a minimum payment of ten years' benefits to either the employee or his beneficiaries.The agreements also provide for lump sum payments upon termination of employment without cause and reduced benefits upon early retirement.
Deferred Compensation Arrangement with Individual, Compensation Expense (in Dollars)																				$ 616,000	$ 796,000

12. Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Schedule of Employee Stock Option Activity (Employee Stock Option [Member], USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013 Number of Shares [Member]	Apr. 30, 2012 Number of Shares [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Weighted Average Exercise Price [Member]	Apr. 30, 2012 Weighted Average Exercise Price [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term [Member]	Apr. 30, 2011 Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Aggregate Intrinsic Value [Member]
12. Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Schedule of Employee Stock Option Activity [Line Items]
Outstanding	1,629,700	1,433,525
Outstanding (in Dollars per share)			$ 7.95	$ 8.22
Outstanding					6 years 146 days	6 years 219 days
Outstanding (in Dollars)							$ 3,697,430
Exercisable	1,081,000
Exercisable (in Dollars per share)			$ 8.46
Exercisable					4 years 292 days
Exercisable (in Dollars)							2,324,626
Available for future grants	166,743
Granted	209,000	253,000
Granted (in Dollars per share)			$ 8.82	$ 7.36
Exercised	(113,075)	(7,950)
Exercised (in Dollars per share)			$ 5.63	$ 5.35
Expired or Canceled	(17,000)	(48,875)
Expired or Canceled (in Dollars per share)			$ 5.16	$ 11.10
Outstanding	1,708,625	1,629,700
Outstanding (in Dollars per share)			$ 8.23	$ 7.95
Outstanding					6 years 36 days	6 years 219 days
Outstanding (in Dollars)							$ 3,697,430

13. Income Taxes (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
13. Income Taxes (Details) (USD $)	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
13. Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Valuation Allowance, Deferred Tax Asset, Change in Amount	$ (490,000)	$ 3,057,000
Deferred Tax Assets, Operating Loss Carryforwards, Foreign	2,700,000
Deferred Tax Assets, Operating Loss Carryforwards, Domestic	6,600,000
Deferred Tax Provision [Member] \| Valuation Allowance of Deferred Taxes [Member]
13. Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Valuation Allowances and Reserves, Adjustments	490,000
Foreign Exchange [Member] \| Valuation Allowance of Deferred Taxes [Member]
13. Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Valuation Allowances and Reserves, Adjustments	45,000	58,000
Unrealized Gains on Marketable Securities [Member] \| Valuation Allowance of Deferred Taxes [Member]
13. Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Valuation Allowances and Reserves, Adjustments		43,000
Valuation Allowance of Deferred Taxes [Member]
13. Income Taxes (Details) [Line Items]
Valuation Allowances and Reserves, Period Increase (Decrease)	$ 445,000	$ (3,100,000)

13. Income Taxes (Details) - Schedule of Income Before Income Taxes (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Schedule of Income Before Income Taxes [Abstract]
U.S.	$ 7,028	$ 7,426
Foreign	(1,942)	(612)
	$ 5,086	$ 6,814

13. Income Taxes (Details) - Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Current:
Federal	$ 1,680	$ 2,534
Foreign	0	0
State	40	6
Current provision	1,720	2,540
Deferred:
Federal	(145)	16
Foreign	(585)	(49)
State	(80)	(10)
Deferred benefit	(810)	(43)
Change in valuation allowance	490	(3,057)
Total benefit	$ 1,400	$ (560)

13. Income Taxes (Details) - Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconcilliation (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconcilliation [Abstract]
Computed "expected" tax expense	$ 1,729	$ 2,316
State and local tax, net of federal benefit	(81)	(3)
Valuation allowance on deferred tax assets	490	(3,057)
Nontaxable income from foreign subsidiaries	29	72
Nondeductible expenses	178	143
Nontaxable life insurance cash value increase	(168)	(150)
Write off benefit from equity investment losses	0	466
Tax credits	(299)	(350)
Other items, net, none of which individually exceeds 5% of federal taxes at statutory rates	(478)	3
	$ 1,400	$ (560)

13. Income Taxes (Details) - Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Deferred tax assets:
Employee benefits	$ 6,490	$ 5,320
Inventory	1,980	2,055
Accounts receivable	470	525
Tax credits	990	1,140
Other liabilities	270	332
Net operating loss carryforwards	3,040	2,800
Total deferred tax asset	13,240	12,172
Deferred tax liabilities:
Marketable securities	540	243
Property, plant and equipment	1,310	1,630
Net deferred tax asset	11,390	10,299
Valuation allowance	(1,900)	(1,455)
Net deferred tax assets	9,490	8,844
Gross current assets	3,890	4,092
Valuation allowance	0	(697)
Current liabilities	(720)	(243)
Net current deferred tax assets	3,170	3,152
Gross noncurrent assets	9,600	8,080
Valuation allowance	(1,900)	(758)
Noncurrent liabilities	(1,380)	(1,630)
Net noncurrent deferred tax assets	$ 6,320	$ 5,692

14. Product Warranties (Details) - Schedule of Product Warranty Liability (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Schedule of Product Warranty Liability [Abstract]
Balance at beginning of year	$ 778	$ 145
Acquired reserve of FEI-Elcom	0	370
Warranty costs incurred	(324)	(192)
Product warranty accrual	144	455
Balance at end of year	$ 598	$ 778

15. Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
15. Segment Information (Details) [Line Items]
Number of Reportable Segments	3
Segment Reporting, Disclosure of Major Customers		None of the customers in the Gillam-FEI and FEI-Zyfer segments accounted for more than 10% of consolidated revenues.
U.S. Government and U.S. Government Subcontractors [Member] \| Customer Concentration Risk [Member] \| Sales Revenue, Net [Member]
15. Segment Information (Details) [Line Items]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	62.00%	46.00%
Frequency Electronics Inc New York [Member] \| Customer Concentration Risk [Member] \| Sales Revenue, Net [Member]
15. Segment Information (Details) [Line Items]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	65.00%	66.00%
Frequency Electronics Inc New York [Member]
15. Segment Information (Details) [Line Items]
Number Of Principal Markets	3
Revenue, Net (in Dollars)	$ 34.1	$ 29.3
Segment Reporting, Disclosure of Major Customers		Each of these customers also exceeded 10% of the Company's consolidated revenues.
Gillam Frequency Electronics Inc [Member]
15. Segment Information (Details) [Line Items]
Sales Revenue, Goods, Gross (in Dollars)	4.1	3.9
Inventory Write-down (in Dollars)	$ 1.4
Segment Reporting, Disclosure of Major Customers	one customer exceeded 10% of that segment's revenues	one customer exceeded 10% of that segment's revenues
Frequency Electronics Inc Zyfer [Member]
15. Segment Information (Details) [Line Items]
Concentration Risk, Customer	three customers	three customers
Segment Reporting, Disclosure of Major Customers	two customers accounted for more than 10% of that segment's sales	one customer accounted for more than 10% of that segment's sales

15. Segment Information (Details) - Reconciliation of Operating Profit (Loss) from Segments to Consolidated (USD $)

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

Apr. 30, 2012

Segment Reporting, Reconciling Item for Operating Profit (Loss) from Segment to Consolidated [Line Items]

Revenues

$ 68,932,000

$ 63,595,000

Operating profit (loss)

4,679,000

6,703,000

Frequency Electronics Inc New York [Member]

Segment Reporting, Reconciling Item for Operating Profit (Loss) from Segment to Consolidated [Line Items]

Revenues

52,567,000

44,711,000

Operating profit (loss)

7,334,000

7,938,000

Gillam Frequency Electronics Inc [Member]

Segment Reporting, Reconciling Item for Operating Profit (Loss) from Segment to Consolidated [Line Items]

Revenues

11,825,000

^[1]

12,811,000

^[1]

Operating profit (loss)

(1,643,000)

^[1]

138,000

^[1]

Frequency Electronics Inc Zyfer [Member]

Segment Reporting, Reconciling Item for Operating Profit (Loss) from Segment to Consolidated [Line Items]

Revenues

10,523,000

11,494,000

Operating profit (loss)

(552,000)

(511,000)

Inter Segment [Member]

Segment Reporting, Reconciling Item for Operating Profit (Loss) from Segment to Consolidated [Line Items]

Revenues

(5,983,000)

^[1]

(5,421,000)

^[1]

Corporate Segment [Member]

Segment Reporting, Reconciling Item for Operating Profit (Loss) from Segment to Consolidated [Line Items]

Operating profit (loss)

$ (460,000)

$ (862,000)

[1]

For fiscal years ended April 30, 2013 and 2012, includes Gillam-FEI intersegment sales of $4.1 million and $3.9 million, respectively, to the FEI-NY and FEI-Zyfer segments. Such sales consist principally of manufacture of assemblies and units of a wireline synchronization product for ultimate production and sale in the U.S. plus the costs of ongoing research and development costs to support the product line. In the Gillam-FEI segment, these transactions increased the operating profit in each of the fiscal years. In addition, during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013, Gillam-FEI wrote down $1.4 million of accumulated costs related to hardware and software design of a product in connection with the French government's smart electrical grid initiative. Based on slower than anticipated rollout of this project, the Company has less visibility regarding the probable schedule for obtaining production-level orders, which are now anticipated to occur no earlier than fiscal year 2015.

15. Segment Information (Details) - Reconciliation of Assets from Segment to Consolidate (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Segment Reporting, Asset Reconciling Item [Line Items]
Identifiable Assets	$ 108,909	$ 106,227
Depreciation and Amortization	2,413	2,241
Frequency Electronics Inc New York [Member]
Segment Reporting, Asset Reconciling Item [Line Items]
Identifiable Assets	55,508	50,234
Depreciation and Amortization	1,892	1,590
Gillam Frequency Electronics Inc [Member]
Segment Reporting, Asset Reconciling Item [Line Items]
Identifiable Assets	18,071	20,407
Depreciation and Amortization	304	425
Frequency Electronics Inc Zyfer [Member]
Segment Reporting, Asset Reconciling Item [Line Items]
Identifiable Assets	10,418	9,685
Depreciation and Amortization	202	207
Inter Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting, Asset Reconciling Item [Line Items]
Identifiable Assets	(18,903)	(16,424)
Corporate Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting, Asset Reconciling Item [Line Items]
Identifiable Assets	43,815	42,325
Depreciation and Amortization	$ 15	$ 19

15. Segment Information (Details) - Schedule of Revenues Attributed to Foreign Countries (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
15. Segment Information (Details) - Schedule of Revenues Attributed to Foreign Countries [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 68,932,000	$ 63,595,000
Foreign Revenue [Member]
15. Segment Information (Details) - Schedule of Revenues Attributed to Foreign Countries [Line Items]
Revenues	17,722,000	21,166,000
France [Member]
15. Segment Information (Details) - Schedule of Revenues Attributed to Foreign Countries [Line Items]
Revenues	9,527,000	8,480,000
Belgium [Member]
15. Segment Information (Details) - Schedule of Revenues Attributed to Foreign Countries [Line Items]
Revenues	4,240,000	4,254,000
China [Member]
15. Segment Information (Details) - Schedule of Revenues Attributed to Foreign Countries [Line Items]
Revenues	565,000	899,000
Other Countries [Member]
15. Segment Information (Details) - Schedule of Revenues Attributed to Foreign Countries [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 3,390,000	$ 7,533,000

4. Inventories (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
4. Inventories (Details) [Line Items]
Inventory, Net	$ 37,521	$ 34,299
United States [Member]
4. Inventories (Details) [Line Items]
Inventory, Net	29,900	25,500
Belgium [Member]
4. Inventories (Details) [Line Items]
Inventory, Net	6,900	8,200
China [Member]
4. Inventories (Details) [Line Items]
Inventory, Net	$ 700	$ 600

14. Product Warranties (Details)	12 Months Ended
14. Product Warranties (Details)	Apr. 30, 2013
Product Warranty Disclosure [Text Block]
Standard Product Warranty Description	one-year warranty regarding the manufactured quality and functionality of its products.For some limited products, the warranty period has been extended.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Parentheticals) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2012
Acquisition of FEI-Elcom, cash acquired (in Dollars)	$ 763

Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders' Equity (Parentheticals) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013
Cash dividend, per share (in Dollars per share)	$ 0.20
Retained Earnings [Member]
Cash dividend, per share (in Dollars per share)	$ 0.20

2. Earnings Per Share (Details) (Equity Option [Member])	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Equity Option [Member]
2. Earnings Per Share (Details) [Line Items]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share, Amount	939,375	733,375

15. Segment Information (Details) - Reconciliation of Assets from Segment to Consolidate (Parentheticals) (Frequency Electronics Inc New York China [Member], USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2012
Frequency Electronics Inc New York China [Member]
Segment Reporting, Asset Reconciling Item [Line Items]
Identifiable assets in China (in Dollars)	$ 3	$ 3