Assessment · M&A

Are defense companies selling off more of their businesses?

Not in the count. U.S.-listed defense companies agreed to 14 to 17 sales a year from 2022 to 2025. Half of 2026's eight leave the seller holding a stake.

October 8, 2026

Our deal tracker records 109 sales by 36 U.S.-listed defense companies since January 2020. The count covers businesses, product lines and stakes sold to another owner.¹ They peaked at 23 in 2020. From 2022 to 2025 they ran at 14 to 17 a year. This year has eight through September. Our count for each year rises as annual reports disclose smaller sales, and 2026's reports aren't out yet.¹

The more striking change is in the terms of this year's sales. Half of this year's eight sales leave the seller holding part of the business it sold, or shares in its buyer. In the deal terms we hold for the 101 sales from 2020 to 2025, we found three. Private equity firms or companies they own bought four of this year's eight, and in three of those the seller kept a stake.¹

Without L3Harris and RTX, there was no peak in 2020 and 2021

L3Harris and RTX, each formed by a merger, made 14 of the 40 sales in 2020 and 2021.¹ RTX sold its airborne tactical radios business "in order to meet the requirements for regulatory approval of the Raytheon Merger".² William M. Brown, L3Harris's chairman and CEO, called its 2020 sale of an airport security business to Leidos a milestone in the company's "strategic priority to reshape our portfolio following last year’s L3 and Harris merger".³

The other companies averaged 13.0 sales a year in 2020 and 2021, against 12.5 from 2022 to 2025.¹

PwC's 2026 midyear deals outlook says "Carve-outs are accelerating because companies such as RTX, L3Harris, and Boeing are simplifying portfolios".⁴ Those three have agreed to four sales this year, up from two in all of 2025. That is fewer than the eight they agreed to in 2020.¹ We couldn't find an outside count of sales by defense companies to check ours against.

Half of 2026's eight sales keep the seller in

L3Harris sold control of its space propulsion and power business to AE Industrial Partners, at a total enterprise value of $845 million. It keeps "a ~40% ownership stake".⁵ Altaris took control of Leidos's airport and border security screening businesses by combining them with Analogic, "a portfolio company of Altaris", in a joint venture.^6–7 Leidos's payment was "41.5% of the equity securities of the JV"; Altaris holds the controlling 58.5%.^7–8

BWXT is selling its medical isotope business to Nordic Capital in a deal valued at up to $800 million. The company says it "remains bullish on long-term growth in the radiopharmaceutical market and will maintain a meaningful minority ownership stake in the divested business".⁹ Boeing is selling Insitu, Wisk and SkyGrid to Archer Aviation for Archer's own shares and warrants: shares equal to 19.75% of those outstanding before closing, plus two warrants.¹⁰ The deal lets Boeing "retain strategic upside through its stake in Archer".¹¹

The fourth private equity purchase is Woodward's pilot controls line, sold to Ontic, which is backed by CVC Capital Partners.¹²

Three of RTX, L3Harris and Boeing's four 2026 sales include space or drone businesses

Three of the four sales RTX, L3Harris and Boeing agreed to this year include a space or drone business.¹ Besides L3Harris's space propulsion unit, RTX agreed to sell Blue Canyon Technologies, "a spacecraft and satellite component manufacturer", to MDA Space. The price is an enterprise value of US$620 million.¹³ Insitu, part of Boeing's sale, makes "uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) used in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance".¹¹ PwC expects primes to "divest mature assets, separate noncore units, and reinvest into space, autonomy, spectrum dominance, missile defense, cyber, and software-enabled capabilities".⁴

Over the whole period, by our sector tags, the businesses sold most often make components and materials (29 sales) or C4ISR and electronics (12).¹

Private equity's share of these sales fell after 2021

Private equity bought 27 of the 109 sales. U.S. companies bought 26 and buyers based outside the U.S. 28; for the rest we have no buyer. Private equity's share fell from 35% in 2020 and 2021 to 15% from 2022 to 2025. Thales bought three, and BAE Systems and SES two each; no other buyer from outside the U.S. bought more than one.¹

Boeing's Jeppesen sale dominates disclosed deal value

We have prices for 72 sales, with a median of $56 million. U.S. companies paid a median of $60 million. Private equity's median was $192 million, and that of buyers based outside the U.S. $275 million.¹ The prices are on mixed bases: L3Harris's $845 million values the whole new company, though L3Harris kept about 40%.⁵ Boeing's sale of Jeppesen and other digital aviation businesses to Thoma Bravo, valued at $10.55 billion, is 33% of the total.^{1, 14} Without it, 2025's sales with a price come to $1.8 billion.¹

Sellers say they're focusing on their core businesses

Boeing's Kelly Ortberg said the Jeppesen sale "is an important component of our strategy to focus on core businesses, supplement the balance sheet and prioritize the investment grade credit rating".¹⁴ Northrop Grumman said its 2025 sale of a training business to Serco "reflects Northrop Grumman’s strategy to focus on growing core businesses where technology and innovation are key differentiators".¹⁵ L3Harris's Christopher Kubasik said the space propulsion sale "further aligns the L3Harris portfolio with DoW core mission priorities".⁵ BWXT's Rex Geveden said the company will "concentrate management resources and capital on our core businesses in nuclear national security and nuclear power".⁹

The busiest seller since 2024 is owned by private equity

Cobham Ultra belongs to Advent International, which lists its investments in "Cobham (2020), Ultra Electronics (2022)".^16–17 Cobham Ultra has agreed to six sales since 2024, more than any U.S.-listed defense company in our count, with $6.5 billion in prices on record. The U.S.-listed companies' sales with a price in that time, Jeppesen aside, come to $4.7 billion.¹ This year Cobham Ultra agreed to sell Ultra Maritime to Lockheed Martin for $3.45 billion.¹⁸ It sold Ultra I&C Mission Solutions to Booz Allen for $720 million and is selling Ultra Cyber to Airbus Defence and Space.^{16, 19}

KBR and Textron separations sit outside the sales count

MDA says the Blue Canyon purchase "is expected to close by the end of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and required regulatory approvals".¹³ KBR is spinning off its Mission Technology Solutions business as Trinzic, "targeting completion on January 4, 2027".²⁰ Textron is weighing "a sale of the Industrial businesses or a tax-free separation into a standalone, publicly traded company" for its Industrial segment.²¹ Neither separation has a buyer, so neither is in our count; a sale of Textron's Industrial businesses would be.