AeroVironment Acquires VTOL UAS Company Pulse Aerospace

AeroVironment Inc., a California-based provider of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for both defense and commercial applications, has acquired Pulse Aerospace LLC, a developer and supplier of small, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) UAS.

AeroVironment purchased the company for $25.7 million in cash, including milestone-based earn-out payments of $5 million. AeroVironment, which notes it financed the transaction entirely from available cash on hand, expects the transaction to be accretive to its earnings by the third full year of operations.

In connection with the transaction, Pulse Aerospace’s Lawrence, Kan., facility will become AeroVironment Innovation Center – Midwest, which will focus on small VTOL drones and mission planning solutions.

Pulse’s HeliSynth technology offers flight control, payload and endurance capabilities for both defense and commercial applications, says AeroVironment.

“The talented Pulse Aerospace team has created a solution set that is unique and will expand our family of unmanned systems by addressing increasing demand from our customers for small VTOL solutions,” comments Wahid Nawabi, AeroVironment’s president and CEO. “This transaction brings together two highly complementary companies in terms of products, markets and culture and will better position AeroVironment to grow our share of the small UAS market. The team at Pulse Aerospace shares our focus on disruptive innovation, and we welcome them to AeroVironment. Together, we will deliver even more capability to our customers in the United States and more than 45 allied countries around the world.”

“AeroVironment’s global market presence dramatically increases the reach of Pulse’s VTOL UAS technology,” adds Aaron Lessig, CEO of Pulse Aerospace. “Pulse’s offering expands AeroVironment’s mission capabilities with increased payload capacity, which broadens customer use cases. We look forward to growing AeroVironment’s share of the global unmanned systems market together.”