Currently part of private equity firm Godspeed Capital, SilverEdge recently announced a generative AI platform designed to handle TS/SCI national security data, which it says is already operational at multiple, unnamed agencies.
The transaction is set to complete in early 2026.
Why edge and endpoint security can’t be an afterthought.
The deal, which is expected to close by first quarter 2026, consolidates some of Italy’s defense sector, at a time when European defense spending is on the rise.
This op-ed argues that now is the time for venture capitalists in the defense industry to build, buy and create.
“Unprecedented demand” in both commercial and defense aerospace sectors led to the company’s decision to break off that division as a standalone, public company, Honeywell CEO Vimal Kapur said in a statement.
“We’re not letting anybody go, we’re not doing any redundancies,” Applied Intuition co-founder Qasar Younis told Breaking Defense. Instead his firm, long focused on unmanned ground vehicles, is eager to add EpiSci’s expertise in aerial drones and unmanned watercraft.
The network transport architecture for NGC2 could be a hybrid approach that combines high assurance communications with 5G, WiFi, and multi-orbit satellites.
The deal is the latest in a series of acquisitions by the California-based defense tech firm, which has purchased startups specializing in aerial drones, solid rocket motors and autonomous submarines in recent years.
"The structure of the global defense sector is changing, and this transaction underscores that transformation," said analyst Byron Callan of the merger.
The smallsat maker — now known as Terran Orbital, a Lockheed Martin Company — will report to Lockheed’s space unit and serve as a merchant supplier to other major space primes, Lockheed said.
“When you look at the 150-year history of Fairbanks Morse Defense, you will find a handful of distinctive moments that completely transformed this company. We believe [this] will become one of those moments,” George Whittier, CEO of Fairbanks Morse Defense, said in a statement.
Reducing cognitive overload on warfighters while improving “time to trust” for autonomous systems is a matter of design.
The deal marks the first time Lockheed has sought to acquire a company from its Lockheed Martin ventures portfolio.
The German-based company has sought to carve out a share of the US market, in part, by competing for the Army's ongoing Bradley replacement program and emerging artillery ones.
Space, cyber and shipbuilding are three areas Leonardo exec Lorenzo Mariani told Breaking Defense he sees as ripe for consolidation.
“Spirit has had a successful ten-year partnership with Bell on this program and we will continue to work with them to deliver on our joint commitments,” Spirit AeroSystems spokesman Joe Buccino said.