General Dynamics Acquires Axsys for $643M

General Dynamics has agreed to pay $643 million to acquire Axsys Technologies, the world’s leading diamond turning optical manufacturer and a supplier of electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) sensors and stabilized cameras to the U.S. military and homeland security agencies. General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems will pay $54 per share for Axsys’ outstanding common stock. According to a General Dynamics spokeswoman, Axsys supplies electro-optical cameras, infrared sensors, and multi-axis stabilized sensors for the following U.S. military systems: M151 on Stryker, Mosul(click to view full) Remotely operated weapons stations: Axsys’ infrared lenses are used in the U.S. Army’s Protector remotely operated weapons stations (RWS), allowing soldiers inside to find and fire at targets while remaining inside their vehicle. Read “CROWS = Videogame + Vehicle + Real Guns” and “GM GDLS to Support US Remote Weapon Stations in Theater” for more. The Tactical Satellite-3: TacSat-3 was developed to address the U.S. military’s need for a responsive and flexible space-based surveillance system. Axsys manufactures the telescope assembly for the satellite’s hyperspectral imaging sensor. RQ-4 Global Hawk HALE UAV: Axsys makes beryllium imaging optics and optical structures for the surveillance telescope in the RQ-4 Global Hawk’s integrated sensor suite. These optics were part of a […]