Laser Systems & Electronics, Inc. was established around 1965 by a small team of physicists and engineers who had worked at the Engineering Development Center at Arnold Air Force Base in Tullahoma, Tennessee. In 1970, after having experimented with a few other laser-based products, Laser Systems & Electronics brought out their first electronic distance measuring instrument. Later that year, following pressure from investors, the five principals withdrew from the firm and formed Precision International. The EDM side of Laser Systems & Electronics was sold to Keuffel & Esser in 1971, and then to Cubic Precision in 1985.