Leidos [LDOS] on Thursday said it will make a strategic investment in HawkEye 360, a commercial provider of geospatial-intelligence (GEOINT) solutions based on radio frequency (RF) technology in a move Leidos said will improve its capabilities in national security space.
HawkEye 360 said the $5 million investment will be added to a previous $145 million investment funding round from various investors the company disclosed last November to help it grow its data and analytic services. The Northern Virginia-based company is part of the burgeoning commercial satellite industry offering GEOINT and other solutions to government and commercial customers.
“We’re confident this investment will strengthen our robust capabilities in the national security space arena,” Paul Engola, executive vice president of national security space for Leidos, said in a statement. “This will also create innovative pathways to deliver bold solutions to our customers as they work to safeguard U.S. and allied interests.”
HawkEye 360 operates a constellation of nine satellites, with plans for more in the coming year, that identify, locate and analyze RF transmissions around the globe from a variety of emitters for such purposes as tracking maritime activity, patterns of life and changes, activity in remote areas, endangered wildlife protection, and helping with disaster response.
Alex Fox, vice president of global growth at HawkEye 360, said in a statement to
Defense Daily that through the agreement, “Leidos will have access to the world’s largest commercial RF data archive. Both companies will collaboratively develop high-impact analysis by applying traditional and cognitive algorithmic techniques to the HawkEye 360 data repository. The companies will develop go-to-market strategies for these new analytic services to significantly drive revenue and client success.”
Fox also said the investment will help the company grow its satellite constellation as it scales to meet increasng customer demands.
“But more importantly beyond the financial backing, Leidos’ strategic partnership enables collaboration on key accounts where their knowledge will enhance what HawkEye 360 can deliver to select customers,” he said. “The partnership will harness Leidos’ decades of national security experience and technological expertise in RF intelligence with HawkEye 360’s unique data and analytics to better serve both companies’ clients across the humanitarian, environmental, commercial and national security sectors.”
Leidos is already a player in the GEOINT community. The company’s Critical Insight platform allows analysts to apply artificial intelligence/machine learning algorithms to their missions, build computer vision models on the fly and overlay multi-intelligence signatures to help in true activity-based intelligence derived conclusions.
The company also provides charting and mapping products to support defense, safety and civil customers globally, geospatial analysis as a service and through a team of analysts, and image and data science expertise.
PJT Partners was HawkEye 360’s financial adviser on the latest investment round.