Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Millions, $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Net sales:
Products	$ 6,589	$ 6,839	$ 7,129
Services	3,877	4,147	4,291
Total net sales	10,466	10,986	11,420
Cost of sales:
Products	(6,007)	(6,161)	(6,366)
Services	(3,569)	(3,813)	(3,937)
Total cost of sales	(9,576)	$ (9,974)	$ (10,303)
Loss related to business divestitures	(31)
Impairment charges	(384)	$ 0	$ 0
Operating income	475	1,012	1,117
Interest expense	(169)	(158)	(157)
Interest and other income, net	17	18	20
Debt retirement charge	(1)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	322	872	980
Provision for income taxes	(25)	(227)	(264)
Income from continuing operations	297	645	716
(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of income taxes	(522)	32	44
Net (loss) income	(225)	677	760
Net income from continuing operations attributable to noncontrolling interests	(15)	(13)	(9)
Net (loss) income attributable to L-3	$ (240)	$ 664	$ 751
Basic earnings (loss) per share attributable to L-3 Holdings' common shareholders:
Continuing operations	$ 3.49	$ 7.40	$ 7.91
Discontinued operations	(6.46)	0.38	0.49
Basic (loss) earnings per share	(2.97)	7.78	8.40
Diluted earnings (loss) per share attributable to L-3 Holdings' common shareholders:
Continuing operations	3.44	7.20	7.76
Discontinued operations	(6.37)	0.36	0.48
Diluted (loss) earnings per share	(2.93)	7.56	8.24
Cash dividends declared per common share	$ 2.60	$ 2.40	$ 2.20
L-3 Holdings' weighted average common shares outstanding:
Basic	80.7	85.4	89.4
Diluted	81.9	87.8	91.1