AIRBUS TO OFFER T²CAS™ AS SFE PRODUCT

Contact:
Steve Henden
Manager, Communications
ACSS, an L-3 Communications & Thales Company
623-445-7021

PHOENIX, May 19, 2003 – Three months after obtaining the FAA certification, ACSS, an L-3 Communications & Thales Company, has signed an agreement with Airbus whereby T²CAS™ (Terrain and Traffic Collision Avoidance System) will be proposed to airlines as an as supplier furnished equipment (SFE) option on all new Airbus long range, single aisle and wide body aircraft. T²CAS will be Type Certified before the end of 2004, however, “Full Wiring Provisions” for new aircraft and a "T²CAS System Provision" Service Bulletin for retrofit aircraft will be available in early 2004.

“This agreement with Airbus further validates the importance of developing new products that advance the level of safety for the flying public,” said Joe Hoffman, ACSS president. “Our T²CAS will bring a new level of situational awareness to Airbus operators by identifying traffic and terrain hazards well before they encounter any potential danger.”

T²CAS is a unique safety avionics product that combines aircraft actual climb performance-based terrain awareness warning system (TAWS) with the industry’s leading Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance system, the TCAS 2000. T²CAS received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification in February. The system has been designed as a “plug-and-play” replacement for the TCAS 2000, ACSS’s second generation TCAS II currently flying on more that 7,000 corporate, regional, air transport and military aircraft.

Along with optional Windshear and GPS, T²CAS provides a powerful combination of functionalities that result in space, wiring, weight and power savings. T²CAS is a performance-based system that can be applied to any air transport, regional, business or military aircraft to avoid Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT), which gives operators more time to clear terrain and traffic with an increased margin to maneuver and reduce nuisance alerts. The Ground Collision Avoidance Module (GCAM) within T²CAS enables Modes 1-5 and provides unique predictive warnings and cockpit displays. The Airbus cockpit will introduce unique patented features, such as:

• A Terrain Advisory Line that indicates where the terrain is should they continue on the current flight path. The length and duration of the alert line mirrors the cautionary terrain segment within 30 degrees either side of the aircraft flight path, out to four minutes in front of the aircraft.
• When the GCAM detects that the aircraft does not have sufficient climb capability to clear the terrain by a standard vertical recovery maneuver, it generates a unique identifiable “Avoid Terrain” aural-visual alert.

Many airlines that have already placed orders to retrofit T²CAS, including Aero California, Aeromexico, Federal Express, Mesaba, Northwest Airlines and Virgin Express. In addition, the U.S. Customs Service has selected T2CAS for use on its P-3 aircraft.

ACSS (Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems, LLC), an L-3 Communications & Thales Company, is a leader in safety avionics systems. ACSS products include the TCAS 2000 and TCAS 1500 traffic alert and collision avoidance systems, a family of Mode S transponders and the T²CAS, a combined traffic and terrain collision avoidance system. More than 8,000 units of ACSS' TCAS products are currently operating in commercial, corporate and military aircraft. Thales Avionics is the exclusive sales agent of ACSS products to the Commercial Air Transport market. To learn more about ACSS, please visit the company's web site at www.L-3com.com/acss.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act 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.