INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
WEBSITEwww.l3t.comRon Cook CBE
Corporate Senior Vice President, London
Operations, L3 Technologies
According to Ron Cook, L3 Technologies’
Corporate Senior Vice President, the past
year has been a particularly important
one for the company. The business
rebranded to its current L3 Technologies
name in December 2016, to reflect its
evolution into a leading global provider
of a broad range of technology solutions.
Meanwhile, in 2017 the company also
celebrates its 20th anniversary, and it
now employs 38,000 people globally
(including approximately 1,500 in the UK).
Cook is keen to highlight how L3
Technologies in the UK is developing
its partnerships with customers and
suppliers. He says a prime example is the
company’s Commercial Training Solutions
(CTS) business, which offers vertical,
seamless and affordable solutions to
support the global commercial aviation-
training marketplace. Working hand
in hand with its customers (including
many of the world’s leading airlines)
and suppliers, the CTS offer spans the
complete spectrum of commercial aviation
training, its services including selection,
cadet (ab initio) training, resourcing and
airline training, all supported by high-
technology simulation products, including
the RealitySevenTM Full Flight Simulator.
Cook also explains that L3
Technologies uses such partnerships in the
development of new commercial solutions.
He cites L3 Technologies’ ASA business,
the systems solutions company (with
core capabilities in complex information
systems, data fusion solutions and mission
configurable communications) as a good
example. Here, this business is working
in a variety of partnership models with
customers and suppliers to identify
best-of-breed components and services
to create effective solutions, for example
in the areas of manned intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)
systems, counter-unmanned air systems
(UAS) solutions, secure communications
connectivity and command and
control solutions, more broadly.L3 Technologies’ partnership with
the RAF remains a central focus of the UK
business and, given Cook is a retired Air
Commodore, it is very close to his heart. A
principle feature of this relationship is the
provision of the RC-135 manned electronic
surveillance aircraft under the Airseeker
Programme, which, equipped with a variety
of sensors, gives the RAF a high level of
situational awareness and both tacticaland strategic intelligence. In so doing, it
performs a critical role in fulfilling defence-
wide decision-making requirements.
Cook is also keen to emphasise L3
Technologies’ most exciting new products
and services and focuses specifically in
this regard on the Rapid Aircraft Payload
Deployment System (RAPDS). This
represents L3 Mission Integration’s (MI)
commitment to continually improve its
products through internal investment.
RAPDS features MI’s next-generation
aircraft design and architecture, enabling
the execution of a wide range of missions
from a single platform. The design is
modular and flexible, thereby allowing
a variety of current and future sensor
payloads to be accommodated with
minimal redesign while maintaining
airworthiness certification.
RAPDS is a key focus of L3
Technologies with regard to Small
Manned Intelligence Surveillance and
Reconnaissance (SMISR) requirements,
both in the UK and internationally.Finally, in terms of other new products
and services, Cook points out CTS once
again, this time regarding the added
capability the business is now able to offer
through the 2016 acquisition of Aerosim
Technologies in the context of remote
learning, iPad- and computer-based
training, and lower-cost training devices
(which compliment the vertical, seamless
training solution suite detailed earlier).WORKING HAND IN HAND WITH
CUSTOMERS AND SUPPLIERS
The Commercial Training Solutions
offer spans the complete spectrum
of commercial aviation training