Best Defense

Here's how L-3 Communications is morphing its esoteric military hardware--and selling it to civilians

How's this for a product lineup: sensors for cutting-edge military drone aircraft, minivan-size airport baggage scanners, lifelike human dummies that breathe and bleed? If it sounds like a grab bag, that just goes to show how rapidly the defense business is changing. And the best model for a post-9/11, homeland-security-era defense firm may be L-3 Communications, which makes each of these unique high-tech devices.

Founded just six years ago in New York City, L-3 last week announced $4 billion in 2002 sales, ranking it among the nation's top 10 defense contractors, just below such industry giants as Lockheed Martin and Boeing....

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