L-3 Communications

Not to be confused with Level 3 Communications.

L-3 Communications Holdings Inc.

Type	Public (NYSE: LLL) S&P 500 Component
Industry	Defense
Founded	1997
Headquarters	New York City, New York, United States
Key people	Michael T. Strianese (Chairman, President and CEO)
Products	AVCATT, numerous specialized components
Revenue	$15.680 billion (2010)^[1]
Operating income	$1.750 billion (2010)^[1]
Net income	$950 million (2010)^[1]
Total assets	$15.451 billion (2010)^[1]
Total equity	$6.855 billion (2010)^[1]
Employees	63,000 (2010)^[1]
Website	L-3Com.com

L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: LLL) is a company that supplies command and control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C3ISR) systems and products, avionics, ocean products, training devices and services, instrumentation, space, and navigation products. Its customers include the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Government intelligence agencies, NASA, aerospace contractors and commercial telecommunications and wireless customers.

L-3 is headquartered in Murray Hill, Manhattan, New York City.^[2]

1 History
2 Business Organization
3 Acquisitions
4 Management
5 Products
6 Detainee abuse
7 Federal contract suspension
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

History

L-3 (named for Frank Lanza, Robert LaPenta, and Lehman Brothers) formed in 1997 from the purchase of ten former Lockheed Corporation business units when Lockheed merged in 1996 with Martin Marietta.^[3] The new Lockheed Martin was uninterested in owning these ten units.

L-3 has continued to grow since then through numerous acquisitions to become one of the top ten U.S. government contractors.^[4] Many believe the 3 L were units of Lockheed Martin, Loral and Latitude Communication. Latitude communications did work for the government for GPS and the utilization of GPS through a government contract "think tank."

Business Organization

As of 2008, L-3 is organized under four business segments:

Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C³ISR)
- C3ISR Support Services (which includes flight simulation manufacturing, traceable to the original designs and company of Edwin Albert Link)
- ISR Systems
- Secure Communications
Government Services
- Aviation, Maritime, and Human Intelligence
- IT and Other Solutions
- Training and Staff Augmentation Services
Aircraft Modernization and Maintenance (AM&M)
- Aircraft Modernization and Support Services
- Aviation Support Operations
Specialized Products
- Avionics, Displays, and Specialty Products
- Marine and Power Systems
- Microwave, RF, SATCOM and Antenna Products
- Security and Detection
- Sensors, Guidance, Navigation and Simulation

Acquisitions

1997

L-3 acquires PARAMAX Systems Corporation from Lockheed Martin.

2000

L-3 acquired the Training & Simulation Division of Raytheon Systems Co. based in Arlington, Texas. This company was formerly known as Hughes Training, Inc., and part of the Hughes Aircraft Defense Group purchased by Raytheon from General Motors two years earlier. The division traces its ancestry to the original company formed by Edwin Link, inventor of the airplane simulator.

2002

L-3 acquired portions of Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems located in Greenville, TX, Waco, TX, and Lexington, KY. These companies were originally part of E-Systems.
L-3 acquired SyColeman corporation. SyColeman Corporation came about from the joining of Sy Technologies and Coleman Research Corporation.

2005

L-3 acquired Titan Corp., after a failed buyout attempt by Lockheed Martin.
L-3 purchased L-3 Communication Combat Propulsion Systems, previously owned by General Dynamics Land Systems.
L-3 acquired L-3 Communications MAPPS, previously CAE's Marine Controls unit
L-3 acquired Electron Dynamic Devices from Boeing Satellite Systems.

2006

L-3 acquired Crestview Aerospace, a company based in Northwest Florida. Crestview Aerospace provides aircraft structures, major airframe assemblies and military aircraft modifications for leading Prime contractors and OEMs in the aerospace industry.
L-3 acquired the Nautronix and MariPro businesses, based in Fremantle, Western Australia and Santa Barbara, California respectively, from Nautronix PLC in Aberdeen, Scotland. Nautronix and MariPro provide acoustic ranges and hydrographic solutions to commercial and defense markets.
L-3 acquired TRL Technology, a specialist defense electronics company based in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. TRL Technology is internationally known for development and innovation in the fields of interception, surveillance, electronic warfare and communications solutions.^[5]

2010

L-3 acquired Insight Technologies, a company based in Londonderry, NH. Insight develops and builds optics, from night vision goggles to weapon mounted sights and lasers.

Management

Frank Lanza, CEO and co-founder, died on June 7, 2006. CFO Michael T. Strianese was named as interim CEO, and was appointed President and CEO of the company on October 23, 2006.

Products

L-3 SmartDeck, a fully integrated cockpit system
L-3 ProVision, Millimeter Wave Airport Passenger Screening System
L-3 eXaminer SX, 3DX, and XLB, Airport baggage scanning systems
L-3 OptEX, Trace level explosive detection system
AVCATT, a mobile aviation training simulator
Orchid [2], Total Development & Simulation Environment (Power, Marine)

Detainee abuse

Federal contract suspension

In 2010 it was announced that L3's Special Support Programs Division had been suspended by the United States Air Force from doing any contract work for the US federal government. A US Department of Defense investigation had reportedly found that the company had, "used a highly sensitive government computer network to collect competitive business information for its own use." A US federal criminal investigation is ongoing.^[8] The temporary suspension was resolved on July 27, 2010.