Defense Firm Merges UAS Engineering Company Amid Growing Defense Tech Market

AeroVironment has announced the acquisition of Empirical Systems Aerospace (ESAero) for $200 million, with the California-based company continuing to operate as a subsidiary under AV’s Precision Strike and Defense Systems group. CEO Wahid Nawabi highlighted ESAero’s agility in moving from design to manufacturing, which will accelerate AV’s ability to bridge the gap between conceptual design and manufacturing execution. Breaking Defense reports that this is AV’s second acquisition in the last 12 months, following the purchase of BlueHalo for $4.1 billion last May.