L3 Technologies

L3 Technologies, Inc.
Formerly called
L-3 Communications Holdings
Public
Traded as NYSE: LLL
S&P 500 Component
Industry Aerospace, Defense
Founded 1997 (1997)
Headquarters New York City, New York, United States
Area served
worldwide
Key people

Michael T. Strianese
(Chairman and CEO)

Christopher E. Kubasik
(President and COO)
Products AVCATT, ISR systems, numerous specialized components
Revenue Increase US$ 10.511 billion[1] (2016)
Increase US$ 1.008 billion[1] (2016)
Increase US$ 1.097 billion[1] (2016)
Total assets Decrease US$ 11.865 billion[1] (2016)
Total equity Increase US$ 4.624 billion[1] (2016)
Number of employees
38,000[1] (2016)
Website www.l3t.com

L3 Technologies, formerly L-3 Communications Holdings, is an American 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.

L3 is headquartered in Murray Hill, Manhattan, New York City.[2]

History

L3 was formed as L-3 Communications in 1997 to acquire certain business units from Lockheed Martin that had previously been part of Loral Corporation. These units had belonged to Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta, which had merged three years before in 1993.[3] The company was founded by (and named for) Frank Lanza and Robert LaPenta in partnership with Lehman Brothers. Lanza and LaPenta had both served as executives at Loral and Lockheed.[4]

L3 continued to expand through mergers and acquisitions to become one of the top ten U.S. government contractors.[5]

Acquisitions

1997
2000
2001
2002
2003
2005
2006
2010
2012
2015
2016
2017

Business organization

As of 2017, L3 is organized under four business segments:

Management

Frank Lanza, CEO and co-founder, died on June 7, 2006. CFO Michael T. Strianese was named as interim CEO, and was later appointed Chairman, President and CEO of the company on October 23, 2006. In 2015, former Lockheen Martin executive Christopher E. Kubasik was named President and COO, with Strianese remaining as Chairman and CEO.[19] On July 19, 2017, Strianese announced that he would retire as CEO on December 31, 2017, to be succeeded by Kubasik, but would remain as board chairman.[20]

Naming

L3 Technologies was originally named L-3 Communications for the last initials of its founders Frank Lanza, Robert LaPenta, and Lehman Brothers. Despite the similarity in naming, there is no corporate connection between L3 Technologies, formerly known as L-3 Communications, and networking provider Level 3 Communications, whose name is often abbreviated "L3" in informal industry communication.

On December 31, 2016, L3's company name changed from L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. to L3 Technologies, Inc. to better reflect the company's wider focus since its founding in 1997. The company's website changed from L-3com.com to L3T.com, but the company's NYSE ticker symbol of LLL remained the same.[21]

Products

Controversies

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[23] ended the temporary suspension on July 27, 2010.

Counterfeit parts

On November 4, 2010 L3 issued a part purge notification to prevent future use of Chinese counterfeit parts, but did not notify its customers whose display systems suffered from much higher than expected failure rates.[24]

EOTech Defective Holographic Sights Lawsuit

In 2015, L3 Technologies agreed to pay $25.6 million to settle a lawsuit with the U.S. Government. L3 was accused of knowingly providing the U.S. military with optics that failed in extreme temperatures and humid weather conditions. These sights were provided to infantry and special operations forces operating in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as civilians and law enforcement.[25]

The civil fraud lawsuit was filed by Preet Bharara, in the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit alleged L3 officials have known since 2006 that the holographic sights being sent to Iraq and Afghanistan failed to perform as advertised in extreme temperature ranges. The lawsuit alleges that the FBI independently discovered the thermal drift defect in March 2015 and presented EOTech with "the very same findings that the company had documented internally for years. Shortly thereafter, EOTech finally disclosed the thermal drift defect to DoD." According to court documents, EOTech had advertised that its sights performed in temperatures ranging from -40 degrees to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and in humid conditions.[26]

In temperature extremes the sights exhibited thermal drift, which is when the sight's point of aim differed from its point of impact.[25]|

John Bailey, director of marketing at EOtech said,

Thermal drift is basically when you go from ambient temperature to temperature extreme there is going to be a point of impact shift...We have realized that our sight could shift … in those extremes, -40 and 122 Fahrenheit.
John Bailey, "EOTech Breaks Silence over Defective Sights" military.com

The sights also suffered from reticle fading and parallax.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "L3 TECHNOLOGIES, INC. ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K For the Year Ended December 31, 2016" (XBRL). United States Securities and Exchange Commission. February 23, 2017.
  2. "Company Profile." L-3 Communications. Retrieved on March 10, 2010.
  3. "Robert V. LaPenta" L-1 Identity Solutions
  4. "History of L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  5. "2011 Washington Technology Top 100". Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  6. Training, L3 Link Simulation and. "History - L-3 Link Simulation & Training". www.link.com. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  7. "L-3 Communications completes acquisition of PerkinElmer detection-systems business". VisionSystems Design. June 18, 2002. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  8. "L-3 Communications Acquires Ship Analytics, Inc. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  9. "COMPANY NEWS; GOODRICH TO SELL ITS AVIONICS UNIT FOR $188 MILLION". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  10. "L-3 MAPPS Company details". naval-technology.com. Retrieved January 8, 2011.
  11. "." L-3 Communications. Retrieved on May 24, 2010.
  12. "." Retrieved on November 24, 2014.
  13. "Flight Training News advert".
  14. http://www.l-3com.com/media-center/press-releases.html?pr_id=2054036
  15. http://www.l-3com.com/press-release/l-3-acquires-macdonald-humfrey-automation-ltd
  16. "L3 Acquires Open Water Power, Inc.". www.businesswire.com. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  17. https://www.l3t.com/press-release/l3-acquires-open-water-power-inc
  18. "Batteries that “drink” seawater could power long-range underwater vehicles". mit.edu. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  19. "L3 Chairman and CEO Michael T. Strianese Announces Plan to Retire; Board Elects Christopher E. Kubasik as CEO" (Press release). L3 Technologies. July 19, 2017.
  20. Farhatha, Ahmed (July 20, 2017). "L3 Technologies CEO to retire, COO to take over". Reuters. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  21. "L-3 Communications to Change Name to L3 Technologies, Inc." (Press release). L-3 Communications, Inc. December 6, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  22. Archived July 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  23. Hodge, Nathan, "Spotlight On Private Firms At Pentagon", Wall Street Journal, June 12, 2010, p. 4.
  24. Rajghatta, Chidanand (March 30, 2014). "Did IAF's 'US-made' C-130J Super Hercules that crashed have fake Chinese parts?". indiatimes.com. TNN. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  25. 1 2 "EOTech Breaks Silence over Defective Sights", Military.com, January 21, 2016. Retrieved on November 8, 2016.]
  26. "US Optic Maker Settles Lawsuit Over Defective Rifle Sights", Military.com, December 2, 2015. Retrieved on * November 2015.]]

Coordinates: 40°44′57″N 73°58′33″W / 40.7492°N 73.9757°W / 40.7492; -73.9757

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