Leidos Holdings has concluded its acquisition of Dynetics for $1.65 billion, with Dynetics to act as a wholly-owned unit.
Following the cash acquisition, originally announced in December 2019, Dynetics chief executive David King will retain his role, reporting to Leidos chairman and chief executive Roger Krone.
“Dynetics and Leidos share a commitment to advancing technology to address the toughest scientific and engineering challenges of our day,” says Krone.
“This combination adds innovative capabilities in our targeted growth areas, while expanding our secure agile production capabilities, secure agile manufacturing, and increasing our penetration with key customers. We are pleased to welcome an outstanding team of 2,300 employees with a shared culture of innovation and technical expertise that will benefit our collective customers and drive our continued success.”
In late 2018, Dynetics was selected for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Gremlins programme to develop a low-cost UAV capable of being launched and recovered from an aircraft. The company’s X-61A made its first flight in November, though the system was destroyed when its landing chute failed to deploy.
The company, however, said the loss of the vehicle validated its decision to build five examples of the UAV.
Dynetics also produces the GBU-69/B Small Glide Munition (SGM) that can be carried on various aircraft or UAVs. In 2018, the company won a $470 million US Air Force contract to increase production levels of the system, following an earlier $93 million deal for 900 SGMs.
Leidos also has extensive experience in both the commercial air transport and defence spheres.
In the airborne arena, it states that it has “extensive experience in airborne operations, maintenance, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance with all the armed services. It conducts defence work in areas such as unmanned vessels, operations and logistics, cyber capabilities, command and control, and training.
