L-3 wins subcontract for Navy aircraft upgrade

L-3 Communications Corp. has won a $25 million subcontract from Rockwell Collins Inc. to help the company in upgrading mission systems on the Navy's E-6B aircraft fleet, the company announced today.

L-3 Communications Integrated Systems division of Greenville, Texas, will assist Rockwell Collins of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with the E-6 Block 1 Modification program.

Rockwell Collins and L-3 are refurbishing primary mission systems and establishing an open-system architecture for mission avionics. The program also will modify the electrical and cooling systems, enabling them to operate without external support or by running aircraft engines.

L-3 Integrated Systems will upgrade the power and cooling systems, develop aircraft A-kits, and integrate and test the improved systems. The work will take place at L-3 Integrated Systems facility in Waco, Texas.

New York-based L-3 Communications provides intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, secure communications systems, aircraft modernization, training and government services. Its customers include the departments of Defense and Homeland Security, intelligence agencies and aerospace prime contractors.

L-3 Communications has about 38,700 employees and annual sales of $5 billion, according to Hoover's Online of Austin, Texas. The company ranked No. 12 on Washington Technology's 2003 Top 100 list, which measures federal contracting revenue. The 2004 list will be released in May.