Historically, The Titan Corporation was a defense department contractor involved in areas such as wireless communications, navigational systems, information systems, and other high-technology projects. Following a reduction in defense spending in the early 1990s, Titan redefined itself by seeking commercial applications for new technologies it had developed. At the end of the decade its most highly publicized venture was its SureBeam electron beam technology for the irradiation of ground beef, which went online in 2000 following approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 1999 the company's stock rose 760 percent and was named the top performer on the New York Stock Exchange. As of mid-2000 Titan had four core businesses: Titan Systems Corp., Cayenta, Titan Wireless, and SureBeam. It also had an Emerging Technologies group that developed commercial applications for new technologies. The company planned to develop new start-up companies based around these technologies and spin off minority interests in them as a way of raising capital. Titan also continued to be an active defense contractor as well. Its subsidiary Titan Systems itself had some 16 business subsidiaries involved in such fields as communication services, information systems, signal and imaging systems, electronic systems, and more. It was acquired by L-3 Communications on June 3, 2005 and was operating as the "Titan Group" of L-3 Communications.