HII Completes Hydroid Acquisition

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) has closed its acquisition of Hydroid Inc.

In conjunction with the transaction, HII and Kongsberg Maritime have established a strategic alliance to jointly market naval and maritime products and services to the U.S. government market and potentially to global markets.

The acquisition of Hydroid, based in Pocasset, Mass., expands HII’s capabilities in the rapidly growing autonomous and unmanned maritime systems market. Hydroid will become part of HII’s Technical Solutions Unmanned Systems business unit that now includes unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) such as the Orca extra-large UUV that is produced in partnership with Boeing as well as Proteus, a large, dual-mode UUV operated out of Panama City, Fla. With the addition of Hydroid, HII now has capabilities in the medium and small UUV space from the REMUS and Seaglider autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) or marine robots.

“The combination of HII and Hydroid brings together the full range of UUVs,” said Andy Green, HII executive vice president and president of Technical Solutions. “Combined, we can now offer a comprehensive suite of autonomous underwater vehicle systems that address our customers’ needs. While this is a perfect complement to our existing UUV business, more importantly, it brings together brilliant and talented people who are at the leading edge of unmanned systems technology.”

Duane Fotheringham, who previously served as Hydroid’s president and chairman of the board, will serve as president of Unmanned Systems, reporting to Green. Fotheringham joined Hydroid in 2008 as the vice president of operations and was responsible for the research and development, engineering and manufacturing of the REMUS line of AUVs. Early in his career Fotheringham served as a nuclear submarine officer aboard the USS Salt Lake City and qualified as a Nuclear Engineer Officer.

Mary White, who previously served as Technical Solution’s senior director of unmanned maritime systems, will serve as vice president of operations and strategy for the new Unmanned Systems business, reporting to Fotheringham. White has 30 years of experience starting and leading large defense platform technology operations, running business development as well as mergers and acquisition organizations.