Textron Systems is looking to its purchase of ground robotics company Howe and Howe as well as more focused independent research and development spending to help it grow, Lisa Atherton, the unit's president, told reporters today.
Speaking at a breakfast in Washington, Atherton acknowledged the business unit's sales have been flat in recent years.
"We have got to shift that and move into a growth mode," she said, pointing to the acquisition, which was finalized last month, as a significant component.
Atherton said a strategic business review identified the gap in ground robotics. She first considered Howe and Howe as a potential solution when she saw the company's Ripsaw Super Tank on the television show Jay Leno's Garage.
"We looked for the disruptors in the ground robotics space, and that brought us to Howe and Howe," she said.
Howe and Howe will continue to operate as a wholly owned subsidary in Waterboro, ME, Atherton said.
"We want to keep that center of innovation for them, and they're going to be our rapid application think tank for all disruptive robotics technologies," she said. "We intend to use them as this fast prototyping center we can leverage across the company."
While Textron is focusing on unmanned systems, Atherton said the company won't be looking to unmanned underwater vehicles.
"It's a pretty crowded space and, again, we are not one of the bigs," she said. "We have to be very surgical about what it is that we want to go after."
Atherton said Textron is also seeking to focus its independent research and development efforts to boost growth.
"Focusing our IRAD and being able to make big leaps in a few things, rather than small leaps in a lot of things, is going to help us change that trajectory," she said.