WASHINGTON — BAE Systems announced Dec. 11 it has reached agreement to acquire Eclipse Electronic Systems, a manufacturer of space-qualified signals intelligence gear, from Easterline Corp. for $28 million.
In its press release, BAE of Arlington, Virginia, said Texas-based Eclipse provides highly advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance products and services to the U.S. defense and intelligence communities.
On its website, Easterline described Eclipse as a wholly owned subsidiary whose staff has extensive experience in the signals intelligence industry. “The Eclipse manufacturing staff have all been DOD 2000 qualified and all have extensive experience in workmanship and procedures required for space launch qualified hardware,” the website said.
Bellevue, Washington-based Easterline said Eclipse in 2004 moved into a roughly 1850 square-meter engineering, test and manufacturing facility and that one-fourth of the space is “unoccupied and readily available for future growth.”
BAE said Eclipse has approximately 90 employees and that the acquisition is expected to close during the first quarter pending regulatory approval. The sale price is subject to closing adjustments, BAE said.
“By combining Eclipse Electronic Systems’ products with BAE Systems’ existing ISR capabilities, we will be able to support our customers’ requirements for reliable, smaller, lighter, and more power-efficient sensor solutions to capture and harness actionable intelligence,” Tom Arseneault, chief operating officer at BAE Systems, said in a prepared statement.
