L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. 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.

 

History

L-3 (named for Frank Lanza, Robert LaPenta, and Lehman Brothers) formed in 1997 from the purchase of the 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 expand through mergers and acquisitions to become one of the top ten U.S. government contractors.

 

Acquisitions

1997

• Paramax Systems Corporation from Lockheed Martin. Loral had acquired Paramax in 1995

 

2000

• 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

• Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems located in Greenville, Texas, Waco, Texas, and Lexington, Kentucky. These companies were originally part of E-Systems.

• SyColeman Corporation, which came about from the joining of Sy Technologies and Coleman Research Corporation.
 

2003

• Ship Analytics, Inc.

 

2005

• Titan Corp., after a failed buyout attempt by Lockheed Martin.

• L-3 Communication Combat Propulsion Systems, previously owned by General Dynamics Land Systems.

• L-3 Communications MAPPS, previously CAE's Marine Controls unit

• Electron Dynamic Devices from Boeing Satellite Systems.

 

2006

• 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.

• Nautronix and MariPro, based in Fremantle, Australia and Santa Barbara, California, respectively, from Nautronix Plc in Aberdeen, Scotland. Nautronix and MariPro provide acoustic ranges and hydrographics to commercial and defense markets.

• 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.

 

2010

• Insight Technologies, a company based in Londonderry, New Hampshire. Insight develops and builds optics, from night-vision goggles to weapon-mounted sights and lasers.

 

Business organization

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

 

• Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C³ISR)

o C3ISR Support Services (which includes flight simulation manufacturing, traceable to the original designs and company of Edwin Albert Link)

o ISR Systems

o Secure Communications

 

• Government Services

o Aviation, Maritime, and Human Intelligence

o IT and Other Services

o Training and Staff Augmentation Services

 

• Aircraft Modernization and Maintenance (AM&M)

o Aircraft Modernization and Support Services

o Aviation Support Operations

 

• Specialized Products

o Avionics, Displays, and Specialty Products

o Marine and Power Systems

o Microwave, RF, SATCOM and Antenna Products

o Security and Detection

o Sensors, Guidance, Navigation and Simulation

 

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 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

In May 2008, Emad al-Janabi sued L-3 and CACI for physical and mental abuse from employees while he was detained at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, Iraq. L-3 was named in the lawsuit because it had acquired Titan, which supplied all translators at the prison, while CACI had provided interrogators.

 

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 ended the temporary suspension on July 27, 2010.