Lockheed Martin is expanding its undersea warfare portfolio with a $3.45-billion agreement to acquire Ultra Maritime, strengthening its position in anti-submarine warfare and naval sensing technologies.
Once the transaction closes, Ultra Maritime will become part of Lockheed Martin’s Rotary and Mission Systems business.
The acquisition broadens Lockheed’s portfolio in one of the fastest-growing areas of naval defense as countries invest in countering increasingly capable submarine threats.
Ultra Maritime develops a range of anti-submarine warfare technologies, including towed sonar arrays, hull-mounted sonar systems, sonobuoys, and torpedo defense solutions. The company also has an international customer base and supplies exportable systems to allied navies.
Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems President Stephanie Hill said combining the two businesses will strengthen its ability to deliver integrated warfare capabilities for next-generation naval platforms.
“Undersea superiority belongs to those who move fastest and work together best,” she said.
Ultra Maritime’s Footprint
The acquisition follows a series of recent contract wins that have strengthened Ultra Maritime’s position in the global undersea warfare market.
In June, the company secured multiple contracts from Lockheed Martin Canada to provide lifecycle support for the Royal Canadian Navy’s River-class destroyers.
Earlier, in May, Ultra Maritime opened an expanded facility in North Carolina to increase engineering and production of the Sea Raider family of software-defined radars and the US Navy’s Next Generation Surface Search Radar.
In April, the US Navy also awarded the company a low-rate initial production contract for AN/SSQ-125B sonobuoys to strengthen undersea surveillance capabilities, following a February contract worth 40 million pounds ($54.3 million) to supply sonobuoys for the Royal Navy’s Merlin Mk2 maritime helicopters.
