A&D News

M&A

Enlightenment Capital Acquires Trowbridge & Trowbridge, LLC
McLean, Va.-based Trowbridge is a provider of information technology (IT) solutions to defense, intelligence, and civilian government agencies. Founded in 2006 by Karen Trowbridge, the company provides cloud engineering, cybersecurity, IT engineering, application development, and network engineering solutions to the federal government. Trowbridge will serve as Enlightenment’s newest platform.

American Aerospace Technologies, Inc. (AATI) to Acquire Sky Scape Industries, LLC (SSI)
Toms River, N.J.-based Sky Scape Industries, LLC (SSI) is an unmanned technology service-provider. SSI’s data collection and analysis services are widely used by critical infrastructure operators in the electric, water, and oil & gas industries. SSI will continue to provide integration services, professional drone advisory services, and inspection services nationwide.

Gryphon Investors Portfolio Company Jensen Hughes, Inc. Acquires Hillard Heintze, LLC
Chicago, Illinois-based Hillard Heintze is a provider of strategic security risk management and investigation services for Fortune-ranked enterprises, professional sports leagues and law enforcement agencies as well as many of the world’s most affluent families. Hillard Heintze supports clients across the globe through five practices: Security Risk Management, Threat and Violence Risk Management, Investigations, Law Enforcement Consulting, and Private Client and Family Office Services.

Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd. (ST Engineering) Completes Acquisition of MRA Systems, LLC (MRAS) from General Electric Co.
Baltimore, Md.-based MRA Systems, LLC (MRAS) specializes in the design, development, production and sale of engine nacelle systems and their thrust reversers for both narrowbody and widebody aircraft, along with complex aerostructures for applications on commercial and military aircraft. The company is also a supplier of spare parts. With approximately 800 employees operating in a 1.7 million square foot facility, MRAS has competencies which range from bonding and machining to assembly, test and certification.

Mercury Systems, Inc. Acquires The Athena Group, Inc.
Gainesville, Fla.-based The Athena Group is a provider of cryptographic and countermeasure IP vital to securing defense computing systems. Specializing in differential power analysis (DPA) technology, the company offers a complete portfolio of provable DPA-resistant solutions.

Mercury Systems, Inc. Acquires Syntonic Microwave, LLC
Campbell, Calif.-based Syntonic Microwave, LLC is a provider of advanced synthesizers, wideband phase coherent tuners and microwave converters optimized for signals intelligence (SIGINT) and electronic intelligence (ELINT) applications demanding frequency coverage up to 40 GHz with 2 GHz instantaneous bandwidth.

CIVC Partners Acquires Mangrove Equity Partners, L.P. Portfolio Company Computer Aided Technology, LLC (CATI)
Buffalo Grove, Illinois-based CATI is a provider of 3D design and engineering solutions across the product development continuum, including 3D CAD, 3D CAE, PDM and PLM software, 3D printing and scanning hardware, and other related technologies and consulting, training and support services.

The Carlyle Group Completes Acquisition of a 45% Equity Stake in The Nordam Group, Inc.
Tulsa, Okla.-based The NORDAM Group, Inc. is an aerospace manufacturer and provider of maintenance, repair and overhaul services (MRO) to the business, military aviation, and commercial airline and air freight end-markets. The company designs, certifies and manufactures integrated propulsion systems, nacelles and thrust reversers for business jets; builds composite aircraft structures, interior shells, custom cabinetry and radomes; and manufactures aircraft transparencies, such as cabin windows, wing-tip lens assemblies and flight deck windows.The company provides services to a global customer base through its nine strategically-located operations and customer support facilities on three continents.

Hexagon AB Completes Acquisition of Thermopylae Sciences and Technology, LLC
Arlington, Va.-based Thermopylae Sciences and Technology, LLC is a software provider primarily focused on the U.S. government and defence market that specializes in geospatial applications, mobile frameworks, and cloud computing for enhanced location intelligence.

KKR & Co. L.P. Portfolio Company Hensoldt Holding GmbH to Acquire Major Parts of NEXEYA
Chatenay-Malabry, France-based NEXEYA is a provider of solutions for mission critical environments. Founded in 1997, the company designs, manufactures, integrates and enables specialized products and services for the areas of test and integration solutions, space systems, mission management systems, power conversion and customer support.

NEWS

Nashville International Airport Showing Strong Growth and Strong Local Economy
CAPA reports that Passenger levels at Nashville International airport have soared during the past few years, fueled in part by job growth supported by a sustained robust economy in the region. The airport continues to welcome new services from its largest operator – Southwest Airlines – but during the past couple of years has also secured new flights from the ultra low cost operators Frontier, Allegiant and Sun Country. JetBlue has also begun services from Nashville, and Alaska has also expanded from the airport.

Southwest Mechanics To Vote On Moderate Wage Increases
MRO-Network.com reports that Southwest Airlines mechanics’ real wages would increase 1.0-1.4% annually under the tentative agreement. MRO-Network.com states, “The long and sometimes acrimonious contract negotiations between Southwest Airlines and its mechanics’ union may be nearing an end. The shape of any ultimate agreement should help indicate how fast mechanic wages will increase in light of the much-discussed potential shortage of aircraft mechanics. So far, it looks like mechanic wages will accelerate, but not dramatically so.” in reference to the tentative agreement, “The tentative agreement would increase the base rate pay scale as of April 1, 2019, for each step of a mechanic’s career by 20% and then increase these pay scales further by 3% in August of 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.”

American Airlines Opening New Houston Line Maintenance Station
American Airlines plans to open the new line maintenance station at Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport for its busy summer travel season.

Air New Zealand Plans New Hangar At Auckland Base
The new 10,000 square meter facility will be close to the airline’s engineering center. Construction of the facility is expected to begin in late 2019.

Symantec Joins U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Industrial Base Cyber Security Program
Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) announced it has become a member of the United States’ Department of Defense’s (DOD) Defense Industrial Base (DIB) Cybersecurity (CS) program. The DIB CS program is a voluntary cyber threat information-sharing initiative established by the DOD to enhance and supplement DIB participants’ capabilities to mitigate cyber attacks.

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus Spacecraft Successfully Completes Rendezvous and Berthing with International Space Station
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) announced that the “S.S. Roger Chaffee” Cygnus™ spacecraft successfully completed its rendezvous and berthing maneuvers with the International Space Station earlier this morning. The mission marks the company’s 11th successful berthing with the orbiting laboratory.

Bell Announces Role for Ozark Facility in Proposal for Us Navy Trainer Replacement
Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced today that, should the Bell 407GXi be selected for the US Navy Advanced Helicopter Trainer program, the company plans to conduct final assembly of the aircraft in Ozark, Alabama. Bell submitted its proposal to the Navy on April 2. The Navy is seeking to acquire 130 aircraft.

China’s Airbus H135 Final Assembly Line Starts Operations
Airbus Helicopters has expanded its industrial footprint and partnership with China with the opening of the H135 final assembly line in Qingdao. The factory is the first helicopter FAL built by a foreign manufacturer in China, as well as the first H135 FAL outside of Europe.

NASA, Blue Origin Agreement Signals Rocketing Growth of Commercial Space
Officials from NASA and the private space company Blue Origin have signed an agreement that grants the company use of a historic test stand as the agency focuses on returning to the Moon and on to Mars, and America’s commercial space industry continues to grow.

Kratos Defense and Oklahoma Leaders Announce Future Production Home of XQ-58A Valkyrie, Celebrate Completion of First MQM-178 Firejet
State and community leaders joined Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq:KTOS) executives in Oklahoma City, OK, to unveil the first MQM-178 Firejet target drone aircraft produced at the new Kratos Unmanned Aircraft production facility.

CONTRACTS

Army ACC-RI Awards Four Contracts for Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) V Program
On behalf of the U.S. Army Sustainment Command (ASC) (Rock Island, IL), the U.S. Army Contracting Command – Rock Island (ACC-RI) (Rock Island, IL) awarded four, ten-year, multiple award, task order, performance-based, ID/IQ contracts, with a ceiling value of $82,000.0 million, to support the geographical combatant commands under the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) V program.

AFLCMC Wright-Patterson Contracts With Boeing for B-1/B-52 Flexible Acquisition Sustainment & Modernization (BFAS)
On behalf of the U.S. Air Force PEO Fighters and Bombers (Wright-Patterson AFB, OH), the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) (Wright-Patterson AFB, OH) awarded Boeing Global Services Government – Engineering, Modifications & Maintenance (Oklahoma City, OK) a $14.3 billion firm-fixed-price, fixed-price-incentive-firm, cost-plus fixed-fee, cost-plus-incentive-fee, time and materials, ID/IQ contract (FA8628-19-D-1000) for B-1/B-52 Flexible Acquisition Sustainment & Modernization (BFAS).

USAF ICBM/SD Contracts With Lockheed Martin for Minuteman III Re-Entry Systems/Vehicles Support under the Future ICBM Sustainment and Acquisition Construct (FISAC)
The U.S. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center (AFNWC), ICBM Systems Directorate (ICBM/SD) (Hill AFB, UT) awarded Lockheed Martin Space – Mission Solutions (King of Prussia, PA) an $879.0 million firm-fixed-price, level of effort, cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, fixed-price-incentive-firm, ID/IQ contract (FA8214-19-D-0001) for the Future ICBM Sustainment and Acquisition Construct (FISAC) program in support of the Re-entry Systems/Re-entry Vehicles (RS/RV) subsystem of the LGM-30G Minuteman III (MM III) weapon system.

USAF SMC/MC Mods Contract With Boeing for Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) Space Vehicle 11
The U.S. Air Force SMC / PEO Space Systems, MILSATCOM Systems Directorate (SMC/MC) (El Segundo, CA) awarded Boeing Satellite Systems International, Inc. (El Segundo, CA) a $605.0 million firm-fixed-price modification (P00109) under a previously awarded contract (FA8808-10-C-0001) for the production of the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) Space Vehicle 11.

Australia’s DoD Contracts With Northrop Grumman Australia for Through-Life-Support of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) KC-30A Multi-role Tanker Transport (MRTT) Aircraft Fleet
The Australian Department of Defence (Canberra, Australia), Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG), Joint Systems Division (JSD), Communication Systems Branch. Awarded Northrop Grumman Integrated Defence Services Pty Limited (IDS) (Alexandria, NSW, Australia) a ten (10)-year AUD $645.7 million (USD $463.8 million) contract (CN3360384), Agency Reference ID: (4600000587), for the through-life-support of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) KC-30A Multi-role Tanker Transport (MRTT) Aircraft Fleet, for the Air Systems Division (ASD) – Aircraft Technical Services (ATS), Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG).

GSA Great Lakes Region (5) Contracts With ViaSat for Rapid Migration of Command, Control, Communications and Computers/Cyber (C5AD) Capability
The U.S. General Services Administration, Great Lakes Region (5) (Chicago, IL) awarded ViaSat, Inc. (Carlsbad, CA) a $450.0 million firm-fixed-price, time and materials, ID/IQ contract (47QFLA-19-D-0006) for Rapid Migration of Command, Control, Communications and Computers/Cyber (C5AD) capability.

NAVSEA Mods Contract With Electric Boat for Columbia/Dreadnought Class Missile Tubes and Missile Tube Outfitting Material
The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) (Washington, DC) awarded Electric Boat Corp. (Groton, CT) a $269.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee modification under a previously awarded contract (N00024-17-C-2117) for the manufacturing of 42 missile tubes and missile tube outfitting material in support of the Columbia class fleet ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) and the United Kingdom (UK) Dreadnought.

NAVAIR HQ Mods Contract With Pratt & Whitney for F-35 Lot 14 F135 Propulsion Systems Long-Lead Materials, Parts, and Components
The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, Headquarters (NAVAIR HQ) (Patuxent River, MD) awarded Pratt & Whitney Military Engines (East Hartford, CT) a $201.9 million fixed-price-incentive-firm modification (P00004) under a previously awarded acquisition contract (N00019-18-C-1021) for long-lead materials, parts, and components for Lot 14 F135 Propulsion systems for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter aircraft in support of the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, non-U.S. Department of Defense (non-U.S. DoD) participants; and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers.

Army ACC-RSA Contracts With General Atomics for MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAS Performance Based Logistics (PBL)
On behalf of the U.S. Army Program Executive Office Aviation (PEO AVN) (Huntsville, AL), the U.S. Army Contracting Command – Redstone (ACC-RSA) (Redstone Arsenal, AL) awarded General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) – Aircraft Systems (Poway, CA) a $99.0 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (W58RGZ-19-C-0027) for performance based logistics (PBL) support services for the MQ-1C Gray Eagle Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS).

USSOCOM SOF AT&L Contracts With Gentex for SOF Personal Equipment Advance Requirements (SPEAR) Family of Tactical Headborne Systems (FTHS)
The U.S. SOCOM Special Operations Forces Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (USSOCOM SOF AT&L) (Tampa, FL) awarded Gentex Corp. (Simpson, PA) a maximum $95.0 million firm-fixed-price, ID/IQ contract (H92403-19-D-0003) for the purchase of Special Operations Forces (SOF) Personal Equipment Advance Requirements (SPEAR) Family of Tactical Headborne Systems (FTHS) in support of USSOCOM Program Manager Special Operations Forces – Survival, Support, and Equipment Systems (PM-SOF SSES).