WASHINGTON — ITT Corp. will combine its space and night vision equipment divisions as part of a wider reorganization of its defense business that will bring the total number of operating sectors from seven to three, the White Plains, N.Y.-based company announced Jan. 5.
The move was driven in part by an anticipated slowdown in U.S. defense spending, and is expected to create growth opportunities by allowing the company to better integrate its product offerings, said David Melcher, president of the newly renamed ITT Defense and Information Systems. In an interview, Melcher said the consolidation will result in a 2 percent to 3 percent work force reduction spread evenly across the defense business, which currently has 23,000 to 24,000 employees. Most of the jobs to be cut are administrative functions, he added.
ITT’s Space Systems and Night Vision divisions, with combined annual revenue of about $1.2 billion, will be merged to form ITT Geospatial Solutions, headquartered in Rochester, N.Y. ITT will maintain its facility in Roanoke, Va., where its Night Vision division was headquartered.
The other two new divisions are ITT Electronic Systems, based in Clifton, N.J., and ITT Information Systems, based in Herndon. Va.
Christopher Young, who led ITT Space Systems, will serve as president of the Geospatial Solutions business. Michael Hayman, who was president of the Night Vision division, will remain with the company on a consulting basis for about a year, Melcher said.
ITT’s space products include environmental sensors, navigation payloads, imaging cameras and image processing software. Young said combining that business with the night vision equipment business will enhance the company’s ability to provide information products that combine data from ground, air and space-based sensors. He also said the night vision and space businesses will be better able to share expertise as a single operating division.
