Sep 18 2017
Lockheed Martin Ventures will be striking a strategic investment deal in Ocean Aero, the developer of the Submaran™ unmanned maritime vehicle.
This would be Lockheed Martin Ventures' third investment this year, and it will yield opportunities for both companies to promote their maritime capabilities, with an emphasis on multi-domain Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR).
Ocean Aero’s latest model, the Submaran S10, has the power and payload for a wide range of sensor systems. (PRNewsfoto/Lockheed Martin)
Lockheed Martin Ventures is Ocean Aero's second significant investor, joining marine instrumentation leader Teledyne Technologies, which has been investing in Ocean Aero since 2014.
Ocean Aero represents the next generation of environmentally powered, autonomous ocean systems. Our investment will allow us to better respond to customers' maritime needs with technology solutions for a diverse set of missions.
Chris Moran, Executive Director and General Manager, Lockheed Martin Ventures
The Submaran™ is a new group of unmanned underwater and surface vessel for ocean observation and data collection. Driven by solar and wind energy, the Submaran™ can travel for months, even in challenging conditions. Furthermore, it is easy to deploy and recover and can dive to depths of 660 ft to conduct C4ISR operations or to avoid surface traffic.
Lockheed Martin joined with Ocean Aero on a successful, multi-domain unmanned systems technology event during the 2016 Annual Naval Technology Exercise at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, Rhode Island. This investment will enable the companies to continue to showcase their expertise in configuring teams of autonomous systems for intricate missions.
We're excited about the opportunity to grow our business and leverage the strengths of Lockheed Martin to accelerate innovation in the autonomous domain.
Eric Patten, CEO and President, Ocean Aero
While Lockheed Martin has offered funding to venture stage companies since 2007, it refocused in 2016 to long-term, strategic investments in technology innovations that could trigger growth in present as well as new markets for the company. The fund is used chiefly in early-stage companies, and its technology priorities include autonomous systems and robotics, artificial intelligence, cyber security, advanced sensor and electronics technologies.