Leidos is a longtime authorities contractor identified for IT—in addition to missiles and airport physique scanners. However CEO Thomas Bell mentioned the corporate is poised for a breakaway in maritime autonomy.
“We’re not seen as on the vanguard of this, however we’re about to shock folks,” Bell advised reporters on the firm’s provider and expertise symposium. “It’s honest to say, again within the day, we have been a federal IT contractor, and that was the dominant enterprise. That is nonetheless an enormous a part of my enterprise. And I believe what we’re seeing proper now could be the convergence, actively, of {hardware} and software program.”
Maritime autonomy has turn into buzzworthy, with the budgets to again it up. And the sphere is getting crowded, as a number of corporations vie for an opportunity to make the Navy’s objective of getting a hybrid fleet—and supercharge operations—actual. Some are backed by personal capital, corresponding to Saronic, Saildrone, HavocAI, and Anduril, and others who’ve been within the sport somewhat longer, like Saab, Textron Methods, and L3Harris. Conventional shipbuilders HII and Common Dynamics are additionally key gamers.
However Bell mentioned what units Leidos aside is its software program and strategic acquisitions. For instance, whereas different hardware-focused corporations are teaming up, like L3Harris and Palantir, Leidos is conserving the whole lot in-house, because it acquired the analysis and safety agency Dynetics in 2020.
“Years in the past, we purchased Dynetics in Huntsville, Alabama. Now we have a sturdy protection enterprise. We purchased [Security Enterprise Solutions]—in order that’s our complete airport [scanner] and non-intrusive inspection regime that offers us these merchandise and capabilities,” Bell mentioned. “[Those] are placards, if you’ll, on a battlefield or in a buyer’s arms. And that adjustments the scope of our price add.”
The corporate has been amassing maritime drone experience for almost a decade by means of acquisitions like ship designer Gibbs & Cox in 2021. They’ve additionally inked a number of shipyard partnerships in a bid to fulfill the Navy’s name for 78 uncrewed medium and enormous floor vessels and not less than 56 uncrewed undersea automobiles. The corporate additionally just lately partnered with Nauticus Robotics to work on undersea drone tech that may deal with advanced missions.
“We’re not world famend as an autonomous naval vessel builder. That is as a result of we do not construct ships. However the whole lot round it, and the whole lot that permits these industrial shipyards to turn into authorities shipyards, we’ve, and we’re very enthusiastic about it,” Bell mentioned.
The Marine Corps is already testing Leidos’ autonomous undersea automobiles. Earlier this 12 months, the corporate unveiled a small, low-cost, attritable UUV known as Sea Dart. And the Navy in October awarded Leidos a five-year, $248 million contract to design and engineer sea drone tech for maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Moreover, the corporate’s LAVA, Leidos Autonomous Automobile Structure, powered USVs crusing from San Diego to Australia final 12 months.
“I am actually completely happy to have all these factors in Leidos, as a result of they’re all linked by software program, autonomy, cybersecurity, and AI. These are the substrates that join all that {hardware} to all that software program,” Bell mentioned.
