Leonardo DRS to acquire McLean’s Raft for $450M

Leonardo DRS has entered into an agreement to acquire McLean-based defense technology company Raft in an all-cash transaction valued at $450 million, the Arlington County defense contractor announced Tuesday.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of the year, and DRS expects to fund the transaction through cash on hand and borrowings under its revolving credit facility.

Founded in 2018, Raft develops open-architecture mission software for national security, with a focus on multi-domain data fusion and artificial intelligence.

Leonardo DRS said the acquisition enhances its services by adding Raft’s expertise in open-architecture software, AI and data integration capabilities. As defense customers increasingly manage large volumes of data from distributed sensors and systems, Raft’s technology will help fuse the disparate data into a common operating picture and reduce the burden on operators.

“Our customers increasingly require integrated hardware, software, data and autonomy to support mission outcome,” Leonardo DRS President and CEO John Baylouny said in a statement. “ The acquisition of Raft will build on and accelerate the organic investment that DRS has made in that evolution. Raft adds proven software talent and open-architecture technology that complement our existing sensing and computing capabilities and strengthen our ability to deliver AI-enabled mission solutions at the speed our customers demand.”

Last year, Raft’s number of employees increased from more than 350 to almost 400 following an acquisition of weapons technology developer N3bula Systems.

“Joining DRS is a natural next step for our team and our mission,” Raft founder and CEO Shubhi Mishra said in a statement. “Our open-architecture platform was built to integrate across systems, not lock customers in, and pairing it with DRS’ sensing and computing franchises will accelerate our ability to deliver mission capability at a global scale.”

It was not clear what plans were regarding Raft’s branding or leadership post-acquisition, and neither company immediately returned requests for comment.

Founded in 1969, Leonardo DRS is a defense technology company with about 7,300 employees providing products, systems and solutions for the U.S. Department of Defense and allied customers. It went public in 2022 after completing an all-stock merger with Israel-based radar company Rada Electronic Industries. In 2025, Leonardo DRS reported $3.6 billion in revenue, up from $3.2 billion in 2024.