Electronic Defense Laboratories, located in Mountain View, California, known in the 1960s and 1970s simply as "EDL", was a semi-private corporate entity, essentially funded by the Department of Defense, that drew heavily on civilian scientific expertise. It was created in 1954 as an extension of the new Electronic System Division (in Buffalo, New York) of

Sylvania Electric Products Sylvania Electric Products Inc. was an American manufacturer of diverse electrical equipment, including at various times radio transceivers, vacuum tubes, semiconductors, and mainframe computers such as MOBIDIC. They were one of the companies in ...

and directed by future defense secretary

William Perry William Perry may refer to: Business * William Perry (Queensland businessman) (1835–1891), businessman and politician in Queensland, Australia * William H. Perry (businessman) (1832–1906), American businessman and entrepreneur Politics and ...

. It was instrumental in development of post- Distant Early Warning line defense technologies, particularly in the area of microwave devices, and pioneered strategic communications capabilities such as the ECHO Balloon project, the forerunner of modern satellite telecommunications systems. Other projects included development of reconnaissance and countermeasures receivers for various covert and military applications. Much of its defense work was highly classified and remained strictly 'off-limits' to the public sector.

References

United States defense procurement Defense companies of the United States {{US-mil-stub