Rockwell Collins [COL] recently said it has agreed to acquire Athena Technologies, a privately held developer and supplier of flight control and navigation systems used mainly in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), in a deal that expands its presence in the UAV market.
Terms of the deal, which is expected to close within 30 days, were not disclosed. Rockwell Collins expects the acquisition to be neutral to its FY ’08 earnings.
Athena has work on three significant UAV platforms. The company is a subcontractor to Textron‘s [TXT] AAI Corp. subsidiary on the Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System, the General Atomics Extended Range Multi-Purpose UAV, and the United Kingdom’s Watchkeeper UAV program, which is being developed by France’s Thales and Israel’s Elbit Systems [ESLT].
“Athena Technologies’ proven track record in creating leading navigation and control solutions for UAVs, combined with our existing capabilities, provides Rockwell Collins with exciting, new growth opportunities,” Clay Jones, chairman, president and CEO of Rockwell Collins, said in a statement. “We look forward to integrating our combined capabilities to bring new control solutions to both military and commercial market segments.”
Athena, which is based Northern Virginia, said the deal will give it a platform to leverage its technology to play a role in the future convergence of manned and unmanned aviation.