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M&A · RF and electronic warfare

OceanSound-backed antenna maker ARA announces merger with amplifier maker Empower RF

Empower RF supplies the power half of the "power and networking content" new chief executive Bill Gattle said ARA would add. The announcement gave no price, terms or closing status.

Antenna Research Associates (ARA), an OceanSound Partners portfolio company based in Laurel, Md., announced a merger on Thursday, Oct. 8, with Empower RF Systems, a developer and manufacturer of high-power solid-state RF and microwave amplifiers. ARA specializes in antennas and apertures engineered for size-, weight-, power- and cost-constrained environments. Empower RF's amplifier modules and systems cover HF through X-band for electronic warfare, counter-UAS, SATCOM, threat simulation and radar missions.1

ARA's announced Empower RF merger fills the amplifier step, not networking

What each company makes, per the Oct. 8, 2026 merger announcement, against ARA chief executive Bill Gattle's stated goal

ARAantennas and apertures engineered for size-, weight-, power- and cost-constrained environments
Empower RFhigh-power solid-state RF and microwave amplifiers
Goal: "antenna to amplifier to network"Stated by Gattle on Oct. 8. The release names no networking business.

The announcement gives no price, terms or closing status.

Source: OceanSound Partners release, Oct. 8, 2026

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The deal arrived 16 days after ARA named Bill Gattle president and chief executive.1–2 On Sept. 22, Gattle said ARA would add capability "such as the power and networking content that surrounds the antenna." The goal, he said, was "a single partner that can take a customer from antenna to amplifier to network."2 Announcing the merger, Gattle said that in contested spectrum, "power and aperture cannot be engineered in isolation."1

Gattle spent 35 years at Harris and its successor, L3Harris Technologies, most recently as president of Space and Intelligence Systems. As chief executive of LightRidge, he led the 2025 sale of its Geost business to Rocket Lab.2

OceanSound invested in ARA in 2024 and set out to build "a more complete, more integrated RF portfolio," partner Ted Shanahan said in September.2 On Oct. 5, three days before the merger announcement, IMSAR, a separate company outside the merger, announced it had completed a strategic investment from OceanSound.1, 3 The Springville, Utah, company makes low size, weight and power synthetic aperture radar payloads for unmanned and manned aircraft. It intends to broaden from radar toward multi-mission RF sensing, partly through acquisitions.3

Networking is the part of Gattle's September list that this merger does not supply. On Thursday he said ARA "will keep adding technology that sets ARA apart."1–2 The companies will show their combined capabilities at the AUSA Annual Meeting in Washington, Oct. 12 to 14.1

Sources (3)
  1. OceanSound Partners: Antenna Research Associates and Empower RF Systems Announce Merger to Build an Integrated RF Platform for Contested-Spectrum Missions (Oct. 8, 2026) www.oceansoundpartners.com
  2. OceanSound Partners: Antenna Research Associates Names Bill Gattle President and Chief Executive Officer (Sept. 22, 2026) www.oceansoundpartners.com
  3. OceanSound Partners: IMSAR, a Leading Provider of Synthetic Aperture Radar Solutions, Announces Strategic Investment from OceanSound Partners (Oct. 5, 2026) www.oceansoundpartners.com
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M&A · Private equity

ATL Partners buys Precise Metal Products to start an aerospace and defense roll-up

Staple Street Capital is the seller. The Phoenix company's long-term agreements support narrow-body and wide-body planes and defense programs, but the announcement gives no price or program names.

On Tuesday, Oct. 13, ATL Partners announced the formation of Precise Aerospace & Defense and its first acquisition: Precise Metal Products, from affiliates of Staple Street Capital. Through the platform, ATL intends to support the company's continued organic growth while pursuing add-on acquisitions.1

ATL announced Precise A&D's first acquisition, Precise Metal Products

The seller is affiliates of Staple Street Capital, and financial terms were not disclosed

Precise A&Da new platform meant to build a scaled, vertically integrated provider of complex components and subsystems for aerospace, defense and space
inaugural acquisitionplanned
Precise Metal Productsairflow management solutions for engine system, auxiliary power unit and environmental control system applications

ATL intends to support PMP's organic growth while pursuing strategic add-on acquisitions

Source: ATL Partners release, Oct. 13, 2026

Sources
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ATL, a private equity firm that invests in commercial aerospace, national security, and transportation and logistics, has done this before. As of the fourth quarter of 2025, it says its team had invested across eight platforms and 42 add-ons.1–2 It has also exited a national-security business. In August 2025 ATL announced it had completed the sale of Geost to Rocket Lab. ATL bought the electro-optical and infrared sensing supplier for national security space missions in 2021.4

Precise Metal Products, founded in 1957, specializes in complex forming and fabrication. Its metal assemblies manage airflow in engine systems, auxiliary power units and environmental control systems.1, 3 Chief Executive Steve Bangerter and his senior team continue to lead it.1

Staple Street, a private equity firm with about $900 million under management, lists the company as formerly owned by an employee stock ownership plan.1, 3 Bangerter credited Staple Street with "helping us expand our production capabilities." ATL partner Mike Kramer said his firm looks forward to working with Bangerter's team to "expand capacity." Houlihan Lokey advised the sellers and Lincoln International advised ATL.1

ATL means the platform to become a scaled, vertically integrated provider of complex components and subsystems for aerospace, defense and space. That makes it a new sponsor-backed buyer for owners of component and subsystem makers in those markets.1

Sources (4)
  1. ATL Partners: ATL Partners Launches New Precise Aerospace & Defense Platform with Acquisition of Precise Metal Products from Staple Street Capital (Oct. 13, 2026) www.atlpartners.com
  2. ATL Partners: Precise Aerospace & Defense portfolio page www.atlpartners.com
  3. Staple Street Capital: Portfolio staplestreetcapital.com
  4. ATL Partners: ATL Partners Completes Sale of Geost to Rocket Lab and Advances Trident Solutions as a Defense Electronics Platform (Aug. 12, 2025) www.atlpartners.com
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Contracts · Space

Viasat wins contract for Space Data Network’s mission operations hub

The award includes a $115 million initial task order to design, field and scale the center, under a contract with a $450 million ceiling.

Space Systems Command (SSC) awarded Viasat a competitive indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the Space Data Network Backbone’s Mission Operations Center, the command announced Nov. 5, 2026. The contract carries a $450 million maximum ceiling and a $115 million initial task order to design, field and scale the center.1

Viasat, Inc. will serve as the network and mission system integration partner

Mission Operations Center (MOC) for the Space Data Network Backbone

maximum ceiling$450 millionactual

contract to Viasat, Inc., with a maximum ceiling of $450 million

initial task order$115 millionactual

to design, field, and scale the MOC

Source: Space Systems Command, Nov. 5, 2026

Sources
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Viasat will serve as the network and mission system integration partner as SSC expands its open-architecture ecosystem across multiple space-segment providers. SSC plans to bring mission integration, network operations and data transport management together through the center.1

The effort builds on the multi-vendor acquisition strategy demonstrated in the Space-Based Sensing and Targeting portfolio’s earlier Delivery Order 2 and Delivery Order 3 work. That work involved Amazon LEO for Government, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab and York Space Systems.1

Breaking Defense reported that the center will serve as the network orchestration hub for the backbone, a low Earth orbit constellation being built by SpaceX. The network’s near-term focus will be supporting the Golden Dome missile defense initiative, the outlet reported.2

DefenseScoop reported that earlier this year the Department of War awarded SpaceX a $2.3 billion contract to deliver a fully operational backbone prototype by the end of 2027.3

The center is intended to integrate mission systems across multiple constellations and providers.1 Breaking Defense described network orchestration as autonomously shifting data among satellite constellations and ground stations when congestion or jamming slows transmission.2

Sources (3)
  1. SSC release, Nov. 5, 2026 www.ssc.spaceforce.mil
  2. Breaking Defense breakingdefense.com
  3. DefenseScoop defensescoop.com
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