Huntington Ingalls picks up autonomy business of Spatial Integrated Systems

Huntington Ingalls Industries said today it has acquired the autonomy business of Spatial Integrated Systems to further expand its unmanned systems capabilities.

Through the deal, which closed Dec. 31, HII added about 50 employees, mostly in Virginia Beach, VA, to its technical solutions' unmanned systems business group. Sam Lewis, the president and chief operating officer of SIS, will lead the company's unmanned surface vessel work. HII did not disclose the terms of the transaction.

"SIS's unmanned systems solutions -- including multi-vehicle collaborative autonomy, sensor fusion and perception -- have been fielded for more than 6,000 hours on 23 vessel types," HII said. "They have supported multiple development projects and demonstrations advancing autonomy in unmanned systems in the maritime, ground and air domains."

According to Huntington Ingalls, the Pentagon is already using SIS technology for missions from harbor patrol to mine clearance to supply transport.

The deal is just the latest by HII in the unmanned systems market. The company also in recent months acquired Hydroid and made an investment in Sea Machines Robotics.