European missile company MBDA on Thursday said it has agreed to acquire Airbus Group’s ground vehicle and missile simulation business.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
GDI Simulation is based in France and develops, integrates and maintains simulation systems for ground vehicles and MDA battlefield missiles for French and foreign armed services. The business has more than 70 employees and had about $16.6 million in sales in 2018.
“With the acquisition of GDI, MBDA will reinforce its position in training simulation equipment, especially in the battlefield segment, combining MBDA’s expertise in missiles and simulation with GDI Simulation’s industrial capability for development, production and maintenance of training equipment to offer an integrated solution to its domestic and foreign clients.”
MBDA already offers customers classroom training, on-line services, simulation-based scenarios, hardware-in-the-loop simulation for missile systems with infrared seekers, and more.
MBDA said GDI has expertise in eye-safe laser-based systems and supports the French army’s land-based training centers. The business will operate independently as a prime contractor to the French defense department and as a supplier to MBDA.
MBDA is a joint venture with Airbus and Britain’s BAE Systems each owning 37.5 percent and Italy’s Leonardo 25 percent.