Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) announced today that it has closed on the previously announced acquisition of Hydroid Inc., a leading provider of advanced marine robotics to the defense and maritime markets. In conjunction with the transaction, HII and Kongsberg Maritime have established a strategic alliance to jointly market naval and maritime products and services to the U.S. government market and potentially to global markets.
The acquisition of Hydroid, based in Pocasset, Massachusetts, expands HII’s capabilities in the strategically important and rapidly growing autonomous and unmanned maritime systems market. Hydroid will become part of HII’s Technical Solutions Unmanned Systems business unit that now includes unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) such as the Orca extra-large UUV that is produced in partnership with Boeing as well as Proteus, a large, dual-mode UUV operated out of Panama City, Florida. With the addition of Hydroid, HII now has capabilities in the medium and small UUV space from the REMUS and Seaglider autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) or marine robots.
“The combination of HII and Hydroid brings together the full range of UUVs,” said Andy Green, HII executive vice president and president of Technical Solutions. “Combined, we can now offer a comprehensive suite of autonomous underwater vehicle systems that address our customers’ needs. While this is a perfect complement to our existing UUV business, more importantly, it brings together brilliant and talented people who are at the leading edge of unmanned systems technology.”
Hydroid designs and manufactures state-of-the-art solutions for use in a number of applications including defense, marine research and commercial. Hydroid has over 15 years of experience providing the U.S. Navy and its allies with the most combat-proven UUVs in the world. For intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance applications, Hydroid’s UUVs deliver sensors to sensitive areas, collecting data in all operational environments. Their vehicles have also been involved with undersea mine countermeasures that have helped save lives. Hydroid’s UUVs located Air France Flight 447 wreckage and generated 3D mapping of the Titanic. And their vehicles offer scientists data relevant to climate change and other environmental issues.
Duane Fotheringham, who previously served as Hydroid’s president and chairman of the board, will serve as president of Unmanned Systems, reporting to Green. Fotheringham joined Hydroid in 2008 as the vice president of operations and was responsible for the research and development, engineering and manufacturing of the REMUS line of AUVs. Early in his career Fotheringham served as a nuclear submarine officer aboard the USS Salt Lake City and qualified as a Nuclear Engineer Officer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Washington State University and an MBA from the City University of Seattle, as well as executive education from the International Institute for Management Development, in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Mary White, who previously served as Technical Solution’s senior director of unmanned maritime systems, will serve as vice president of operations and strategy for the new Unmanned Systems business, reporting to Fotheringham. White has 30 years of experience starting and leading large defense platform technology operations, running business development as well as mergers and acquisition organizations. She has bachelor’s degrees in industrial and systems engineering and computer science from Georgia Institute of Technology. She studied executive leadership at the College of William and Mary, and organization behavior and mergers & acquisitions at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
