Boeing to Buy Insitu In Unmanned-Vehicle Push By AUGUST COLE Wall Street Journal
July 23, 2008; Page B6 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121677779077375965.html?mod=2_1571_leftbox Boeing Co., in a move to shore up its position in the market for small unmanned aerial vehicles, said it is acquiring closely held Insitu Inc., one of the leading makers of sophisticated remote-controlled aircraft. Boeing didn't disclose the terms of the deal, but the Chicago aerospace company's acquisition is part of a growing trend of big defense-industry players seeking to fill holes in their product lines by swallowing smaller companies with innovative technologies. This market is especially important because Boeing's fighter-production lines are expected to start winding down during the next decade and the company has no role in the Pentagon's next, and possibly last, manned-fighter contract. After Boeing lost out to Lockheed Martin Corp. to build the Joint Strike Fighter in 2001, the company focused on building an unmanned-aircraft design for the military. Boeing unveiled an advanced unmanned demonstrator plane that first flew in 2002, but the Navy selected a rival design from Northrop Grumman Corp. last year for a development contract. Since then, several other companies have been pressing ahead with UAVs, adding urgency to Boeing's efforts. Northrop, which is also battling Boeing for a $40 billion Air Force aerial-refueling-jet contract, makes a large unmanned spy plane called the Global Hawk. The Navy picked the plane for a surveillance contract earlier this summer, although Lockheed has protested that decision. Some of the Pentagon's strongest interest is in smaller unmanned aerial vehicles for ground forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has made such vehicles a top priority for the military. Last year, Textron Inc. paid $1.1 billion for United Industrial Corp., a maker of small UAVs. In 2007, Rockwell Collins Inc. bought Athena Technologies Inc., a UAV flight-controls specialist, for $107 million. In a similar deal in 2004, Boeing bought closely held Frontier Systems Inc., a maker of a high-performance unmanned helicopters. Boeing and Insitu have been working together on a small unmanned aerial vehicle called ScanEagle since 2002. It is used by the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. The surveillance aircraft has a 10-foot wingspan and can carry a 13.2-pound payload, and it can remain aloft for more than 20 hours. Insitu, based in Bingen, Wash., employs 360 people and is expected to bring in revenue of $150 million this year, according to Boeing. Boeing said the deal will close by the end of September. ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu ******************************* * POST TO [EMAIL PROTECTED] * ******************************* Medianews mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
