Lockheed Martin signs $3.45 billion deal to acquire Ultra Maritime Solutions

Lockheed Martin has agreed to buy Ultra Maritime Solutions, a naval defense business focused on undersea warfare, for $3.45 billion, underscoring how quickly demand for sea-based detection and anti-submarine technology is rising. The company said it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ultra Maritime, which specializes in advanced anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities for allied naval forces.

Ultra Maritime develops and delivers mission-critical systems used to find, track and counter threats beneath the ocean surface. In a statement about the deal, Lockheed described Ultra Maritime’s portfolio as spanning sonar technologies, sonobuoys, torpedo defense systems, radar solutions, and autonomous maritime sensing platforms. These products are central to ASW operations, where navies rely on sensors and processing to detect submarines at long range and under challenging conditions.

Lockheed linked the acquisition to its broader undersea strategy and said joining with Ultra Maritime would “accelerate” its ability to provide undersea and ASW capabilities to U.S. and allied partners. Stephanie C. Hill, president of Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, said the combined effort would help the company deliver advanced capabilities to its customers. The unit is part of Lockheed’s larger defense portfolio, which includes sensors and mission systems used across air, land and sea domains.

The seller is private equity firm Advent, which acquired Ultra Maritime in 2022. Lockheed’s announcement included comments from Advent’s Shonnel Malani, who said the firm had invested in Ultra Maritime to strengthen its execution and industrial capacity, and to support next-generation autonomous solutions. Malani characterized Ultra Maritime as having a “vital role” in protecting allied nations from undersea threats, while also saying the business had been underinvested prior to Advent’s ownership.

Lockheed said the deal is designed to complement and expand its ability to offer sonar-related products, including exportable ASW offerings such as sonobuoys, towed sonar arrays and hull-mounted sonar products. It also pointed to Ultra Maritime’s international footprint and the company’s portfolio of products that can be adapted for different customer requirements. Lockheed’s narrative suggests the acquisition is as much about operational scaling and integration as it is about technology ownership.

Deals like this reflect an enduring pressure point for defense budgets and procurement: undersea advantage tends to be a sensor-and-software arms race. For submarine detection, performance depends not only on hardware such as sonar and sonobuoys, but also on The announcement processing and autonomy that help systems interpret returns and reduce the burden on human operators. Lockheed’s focus on undersea sensing and ASW positioning fits a market where navies increasingly seek faster detection cycles and more adaptable systems for distributed maritime operations.

Lockheed and Ultra Maritime did not disclose in the announcement how the purchase price will be allocated, whether there are any contingent payments, or the expected timeline for regulatory approvals and closing. The statement also did not provide detailed financial guidance on how Ultra Maritime’s results will be incorporated into Lockheed’s reporting segments, nor did it specify whether any facility consolidation or workforce changes are expected as part of the integration.

With the deal signed, the next key items will be confirmation from regulators and the parties’ closing plans, along with any updates on integration steps within Lockheed Martin’s Rotary and Mission Systems organization. Investors and defense customers will also watch how quickly Ultra Maritime’s product lines are folded into Lockheed’s existing ASW offerings, particularly for sonar, sonobuoys and related autonomous sensing systems.