McLennen-Forster

McLennen-Forster was a military defense contractor that not only manufactured lethal and non-lethal weapons for the military and other clients, but also trained those clients how to use the weapons. As of Day 4, it was the third-largest defense contractor in the United States.

Weapons

Dobson Override device

• Created to override a nuclear power plant in the case of a disaster. The device could also corrupt a nuclear reactor and create a meltdown if the reactor's firewalls were hacked into.
• The titanium briefcase in which it was being transported was stolen during a train accident at the beginning of Day 4.
• Stolen by Habib Marwan during Day 4 in order to force a meltdown of all one-hundred and four nuclear reactors in the United States.
• Disabled by Edgar Stiles.

Electromagnetic pulse bomb

The EMP warming up ("Day 4: 6:00pm-7:00pm")

Developed by McLennen-Forster as a non-lethal but highly destructive weapon for the military, this device was capable of indiscriminately destroying all electrical components (including phone lines, power lines, computers, electronic flight controls, cars, radar and electronic warfare equipment, satellites, microwaves, and television equipment) within an 8 mile radius. It was stored in room 12 of the corporate headquarters, and took roughly ten minutes to warm up. When the corporate executives Gene McLennen, Dave Conlon, and John Reiss realized that they may face prison terms for their failure to comply with government regulations (which enabled Habib Marwan to use their technology for terrorism), they decided to use the weapon to erase any evidence that CTU Los Angeles might dig up. A significant portion of the city was quickly plunged into darkness.

Employees

• Gene McLennen - CEO
• John Reiss - Chief Technology Officer
• Dave Conlon - Head of Security
• Habib Marwan (using the alias "Harris Barnes") - senior engineer
• Henry Powell - computer consultant
• Brody - courier
• Barnet - security guard
• James - security guard
• Marx - security guard
• Skyer - security guard
• Specter - mercenary leader
• Stevens - security guard
• (EMP technician)

Background information and notes

• The title cards and Fox.com summaries incorrectly spell the name "McLennan-Forster," but most in-universe appearances spell it with an "e." However, it is spelled with an "a" in Habib Marwan's records seen on Sarah Gavin's screen.
• One of Paul Raines's companies sold the IT system to McLennen-Forster.
• The name McLennen-Forster is a nod to songwriters Grant McLennan and Robert Forster of the Australian band The Go-Betweens, of which writer Evan Katz is a fan.
• Info about the company is revealed in some deleted scenes.
  • In the alternate version of Forbes' torture of Curtis Manning in Day 4: 4:00pm-5:00pm, Forbes reveals that he is an employee of the company and that it spends millions of dollars every month to design pain-inducing materials for the government.
  • A deleted scene in Day 4: 6:00pm-7:00pm shows the company executives discussing the company's jeopardization; one of them comments that they acquired $60 million from training and arming ("class four weapons") to clientele introduced by Habib Marwan during his alias as Harris Barnes.
• Forty other employees were visibly seen walking in the background of the company and later left before the EMP went off.