L-3 Teams With the Boeing Company for T-45 Competition

(New York, December 12, 2007) -- L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL) announced today that it has signed a teaming agreement with The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) to provide Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) for 189 U.S. Navy Boeing-built T-45 Training System (T-45TS) aircraft from fiscal year 2009 through 2013. The L-3-led team will respond to a Request for Proposals (RFP) anticipated for release late this year by Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).

T-45TS CLS was first awarded to L-3 in 2003, and was valued at $450 million through fiscal year 2008. The program employs more than 700 personnel based at Naval facilities in Kingsville, TX and Meridian, MS with responsibility for aircraft maintenance, supply chain management, ground based training systems, engineering services and carrier qualification detachments. The T-45TS is used to train flight students in the Undergraduate Jet Pilot Training Program as well as train prospective instructors.


"Since 2003, L-3 has provided world-class logistics support for our Navy customer and its critically important T-45 training mission," said Ed Boyington, President of L-3 Vertex, which is leading the program for L-3. "For the follow-on competition beginning FY 2009, our best-in-industry team will leverage L-3's 32-year CLS performance advantage, with Boeing's tremendous supply chain and logistics capabilities, providing an innovative, best-value solution for Naval Air Training."

Over the past T-45TS program year, L-3 has supported a total of 71,000 flight hours as the U.S. Navy winged 308 aviators (including U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps. and Foreign) in Strike and E-2/C-2 aircraft. L-3 supported eight, 10-day carrier qualification detachments throughout the year, logging nearly 5,000 arrested landings (traps). Additionally, the company supported numerous detachments (including Air Combat Maneuver, Weapons, Road Recognition and Familiarization) from California to Florida.

Jim O'Neill, Vice President of Integrated Logistics, a division of Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems, said, "The T-45 is extremely important in the training of U.S. Navy and Marine pilots. We are proud to partner with L-3 to provide an innovative approach in offering the Navy a competitive, cost-effective solution to maintaining these airplanes."

Source : L-3 Communications