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Mercury Computer Systems, which makes sensor electronics for aircraft and ground vehicles, has purchased KOR Electronics and its subsidiary Paragon Dynamics in a move meant to help Mercury squeeze more processing power into its electronics.
The two companies “are an excellent fit for our strategy, which is to provide end-to-end sensor processing subsystems,” said Tom Roberts, Mercury’s marketing manager.
Mercury, of Chelmsford, Mass., makes signals intelligence and imagery processing electronics for prime contractors that equip aircraft and ground vehicles with optical and signals intelligence sensors. One of Mercury’s thrusts is “onboard exploitation” in which the collections are processed and stored within the vehicles so that only the specific information requested by intelligence analysts or commanders is sent over the airwaves.
The 600-person company has been on a modest buying spree, purchasing signals intelligence receiver manufacturer LNX Corp. of Salem, N.H., in January 2011. Mercury purchased KOR, of Cypress, Calif., and Paragon, of Aurora, Colo., for $70 million.
Mercury was particularly interested in KOR’s digital radio frequency memory electronics, which are used in radar spoofing, Roberts said. The incoming signals are stored briefly and sent back out to make an adversary think an aircraft is flying faster than it really is.
Paragon provides technical experts to the U.S. intelligence community, and Roberts said any additional information about Paragon’s work is classified. Mercury also declined to say how many people KOR and Paragon employ.
Roberts hinted that more acquisitions could be to come. “Our president [Mark Aslett] has publicly said it is our strategy to find companies that will allow us to do a better job across the sensor processing chain to support our customers,” he said.
This story appeared in the January-February issue of C4ISR Journal.
