Boeing to buy Digital Receiver Technology

Boeing Co. is acquiring Digital Receiver Technology Inc., a developer of hardware and software products for wireless surveillance and tracking equipment. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

DRT's digital signal processing products, such as wireless receivers and transceivers, are used by the intelligence community and the Defense and Homeland Security departments to collect signal intelligence and threat warnings. The company, based in Germantown, Md., has about 370 employees, the majority of whom are located in Germantown.

The acquisition is anticipated to close by the end of the year, at which time DRT will be integrated into the company's Integrated Defense Systems' Network and Space Systems unit, Boeing officials said.

Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems unit is a $32.1 billion business based in St. Louis with 71,000 employees worldwide.

"This acquisition is another move in our strategy to expand our presence in the growing intelligence market," said Jim Albaugh, president and chief executive officer of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, in a statement today. DRT will expand Boeing's ability to offer military and law enforcement customers improved intelligence-gathering, analyzing and sharing tools, he added.

Boeing Co., of Chicago, ranks No. 2 on Washington Technology's 2008 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.