BAE Systems, Inc. on Monday said it has acquired a small company that specializes in small unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), boosting its capabilities in autonomous systems.
Terms of the asset purchase of Massachusetts-based Riptide Autonomous Solutions were not disclosed. The company has 17 employees, all of which have been offered employment with BAE.
“Adding Riptide’s technological capabilities will position us to provide customers unmatched flexibility by offering a family of UUVs and integrated payload solutions capable of supporting a variety of critical missions,” Terry Crimmins, president of BAE’s Electronics segment, said in a statement. “Coupling our extensive expertise in sonar, signal processing, sensor fusion, undersea communications, electronic warfare, and autonomous systems with Riptide’s unique UUV platforms will enable us to affordably address rapidly expanding maritime mission requirements in the global defense, commercial and research markets.”
Riptide’s products include the µUUV, Micro UUV and Micro-Mini UUV, all of which are man-portable, that can be used with different sensors for testing and operations. The Riptide name will continue to be used on existing and future UUV products but the company will no longer operate under the Riptide Autonomous Solutions name, a spokesman for BAE Systems, Inc., which is the U.S. subsidiary of Britain’s BAE Systems plc, told Defense Daily.
The U.S. Navy is a customer of Riptide’s.
The acquisition aligns with the company’s investments in strategic growth markets that include autonomous platforms, and advancing technology capabilities, the spokesman said.
Riptide’s assets and many employees that join BAE will become part of its FAST Labs organization where its scientists and engineers work on new capabilities to address difficult challenges in the defense, aerospace and security areas, BAE said.
“The FAST Labs team looks forward to maturing Riptide’s platform technology, demonstrating new solutions, and scaling manufacturing production,” BAE said. “This is consistent with our strategy to acquire and incubate small business innovations that can yield disruptive technology breakthroughs for BAE Systems programs of record.”
No financial advisers were used on the transaction.