L-3 Communications Acquires AVISYS; Leader in Aircraft Protection Systems.NEW YORK -- L-3 Communications (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : LLL LLL abbr. left lower lobe (of the lung) ) announced today that on June 16, 2004, it acquired AVISYS, Inc. for $8 million in cash, subject to a closing date net asset adjustment, plus potential additional consideration that is contingent upon the post-acquisition performance of AVISYS through 2006. The acquisition is expected to be slightly accretive to L-3 Communications' results for 2004. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, AVISYS is a leader in products developed to counter the threat of missile attack against civilian, commercial, military, and Head of State (HOS) aircraft. It has several areas of technical competence, including electronic warfare/avionics systems engineering and integration, Infrared Countermeasure (IRCM IRCM Infrared Countermeasures IRCM Institutul Roman de cercetari marine-Constanta ), Directed IRCM (DIRCM DIRCM Directed Infrared Countermeasures DIRCM Directional Infrared Countermeasure ), laser warning and countermeasures, missile warning systems radio frequency (RF) threat warning, technical and engineering and support programs. Since the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks, AVISYS has been developing modular, effective and affordable aircraft protection solutions against the threat of shoulder-launched Infrared (IR) heat-seeking missiles, commonly known as Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS MANPADS Man-Portable Air Defense System ). "AVISYS has been on the leading edge of protection systems for aircraft since its founding in 1991," said Frank C. Lanza, chairman and chief executive officer of L-3 Communications. "The company is well respected for its expertise in avionics, electronic warfare and electro-optical/infrared capability. AVISYS is also synergistic with our other existing avionics and telemetry products for military and commercial markets and will supplement and expand new aircraft self-protection capabilities to our Spar and Integrated Systems businesses, which specialize in aircraft modernization services." In commercial markets, Mr. Lanza noted AVISYS is the IRCM technology lead and system architect for the Commercial Airliner Protection System (CAPS) for United Airlines, the program lead for the Phase I $2 million system development and demonstration (SDD (Software Design Description) The architecture of an information system. See IDD. ) Department of Homeland Security Noun 1. Department of Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States (DHS DHS Department of Homeland Security (USA) DHS Department of Human Services DHS Department of Health Services DHS Demographic and Health Surveys DHS Dirhams (Morocco national currency) ) contract to design and demonstrate infrared countermeasures against MANPADS missile threats to U.S. commercial airlines. L-3 Communications is already part of this dozen-member team and its Integrated Systems division (IS) is providing aircraft integration, airworthiness air·wor·thy adj. air·wor·thi·er, air·wor·thi·est Being in fit condition to fly: an airworthy helicopter; airworthy avionics. analyses modification and FAA certification. "There is significant growth potential for this technology, as the threat of terrorism against military and civilian personnel continues to increase," continued Mr. Lanza. "We estimate the market for special mission military aircraft and for emerging commercial aircraft and HOS applications is approximately $14 billion." One of AVISYS' key technologies - the Wide-Body Integrated Platform Protection System (WIPPS) - is a decoy-based infrared defense system providing automatic threat detection and protection that is proven in combat. WIPPS is an integration of fully exportable missile warning and threat adaptive countermeasures subsystems. AVISYS, as a United Airlines team member, has also developed a low-cost, highly effective WIPPS variant for the DHS contract. With the U.S. airline industry already in a challenging economic environment, an affordable and effective system with low life-cycle costs is very attractive. The current WIPPS is also appealing because it has growth potential in the DIRCM area. Mr. Lanza also noted that AVISYS aircraft protection systems are being deployed on Head of State, civilian, special mission and commercial aircraft to a worldwide customer base. Headquartered in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , L-3 Communications is a leading provider of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance may refer to:
To learn more about L-3 Communications, please visit the company's Web site at www.L-3Com.com. SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and OF 1995 Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements set forth above involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any such statement, including the risks and uncertainties discussed in the company's Safe Harbor Compliance Statement for Forward-looking Statements included in the company's recent filings, including Forms 10-K and 10-Q, with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. |
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