Cubic buys unmanned tech firm Shield Aviation

Cubic Corp. has made its first acquisition since the June divestiture of its defense services business through a deal to add unmanned aircraft technology company Shield Aviation.

Terms of the transaction were undisclosed. Cubic said Tuesday that through its ISR Systems subsidiary, it is buying Shield Aviation to add medium-altitude autonomous aircraft and further expand the portfolio of "C4ISR" offerings for secure and expeditionary communications, plus ISR processing, exploitation and dissemination.

San Diego-based Cubic already provides both a data link and command-and-control link for Shield Aviation's autonomous aircraft.

Cubic's sale of defense services was intended to help give the company greater focus on its core technology markets. The company has set a target of $2 billion in revenue by its 2020 fiscal year and plans to be an aggressive acquirer as part of that strategy.

Founded in 2008, Shield Aviation provides ISR mission and unmanned aircraft support services that include field service representative and training work. The company also engineers and produces aerospace parts.