Tuesday, October 26, 2010

VT Group Acquires Evergreen Unmanned Systems

VVT Group today announced that it has acquired the Evergreen Unmanned Systems business unit, part of Evergreen International Aviation Inc.

Evergreen Unmanned Systems is a leading provider of support for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The firm has a proven performance record for both the ScanEagle and Maveric platforms, with more than 10,000 hours of flight time operating the ScanEagle. The current service offering includes: training, logistics, operations, payload integration and testing to a range of government and commercial customers.

VT Group, the U.S. arm of UK-based Babcock International Group PLC (BAB.L), delivers customer-critical services to the Department of Defense and government agencies. It currently supports aviation missions through maintenance, training, logistics and high-level program analysis. For the past 12 years, the company has delivered support services to the Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) including AH-64, UH-60, OH-58 and CH-47 platforms. The acquisition will enable VT Group to extend its aviation support capabilities in fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft and missile systems to the rapidly-growing UAS market.

“Over the next ten years, the UAS market is on pace to more than double, representing significant opportunities for companies with the right capabilities,” said David Dacquino, Chief Executive Officer of VT Group. “By combining VT Group’s extensive aviation support experience with Evergreen Unmanned Systems’ capabilities and performance record, we can offer an enhanced capability in this developing market.”

Evergreen Unmanned Systems personnel will join VT Group’s Technical Services Division and will continue to work either in the field with customers or at the McMinnville, Ore. campus. Brian Whiteside will lead the UAS organization and report to Chris Taylor, President of the Technical Services Division, within VT Group.

“Evergreen International Aviation takes exceptional pride in its 50-year legacy of matching machine to mission though innovation, flexibility and agility,” said Del Smith, Founder and Owner, Evergreen International Aviation, Inc. “Our customer relationships and service reputation are very important to us, so we would only accept a perfect fit for a company acquiring this part of our business. VT Group’s global reach and proven track record in delivering aviation support are precisely in line with our expectations, and they are perfectly positioned to service our UAS customers.”

No comments:

Post a Comment