Airborne Instruments Laboratory (AIL)

Airborne Instruments Laboratory was a Long Island, New York-based electronics research and manufacturing concern, having been originally founded in the 1940s at Columbia University for warfare projects, including radar interception, on behalf of the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) and the later Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), later transitioning into a private corporation following the Second World War. Through out its existence, the majority of AIL contracts were with the United States military.

The company was first owned by Aeronautical Radio Inc., a jointly-run company owned by various American airline companies, then, in 1950, was bought out by management with the support of Laurance S. Rockefeller. Eight years later, in 1958, it was taken over by Cutler-Hammer Inc. to support its growing electronics interests, at which time it became known simply as AIL; just over twenty years later, in 1979, Eaton Corporation bought out Cutler-Hammer, and AIL Systems was thereafter operated as a division within Eaton. By 1997, after many years of difficulties and loss of government contracts, AIL was spun-off as an independent company, and, three years later in 2000, it merged with EDO Corporation.