PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Textron Inc. is buying United Industrial Corp. in a $1.1 billion deal that underscores its expectations for U.S. military reliance on unmanned aircraft.
The deal announced Monday would help Textron expand its aerospace and defense business.
United Industrial’s AAI Corp. unit, based in Hunt Valley, Md., makes aerospace and defense systems, including unmanned aircraft and ground- control stations and counter- sniper devices.
Textron, a diversified conglomerate, owns Bell Helicopter and Cessna and also makes golf carts, auto parts and surveillance systems.
In a conference call Monday, Textron chief financial officer Ted French said the company believed that the military would continue to rely on unmanned aircraft and vehicles, as it does now in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“The role of unmanned systems is expected to continue to expand, providing us with significant growth opportunities,” French said. “And we believe we can convert this growth into expanding shareholder value.”
Defense contractors Northrop Grumman Corp. and privately held General Atomics are more widely known when it comes to unmanned aircraft used by the military for reconnaissance missions, said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Virginia-based Lexington Institute.
