BETHESDA, Maryland, July 6, 2026, 10:03 EDT
- Lockheed Martin NYSE:LMT agreed to buy Ultra Maritime from Advent for $3.45 billion, with the deal subject to regulatory approvals.
- Ultra’s annual revenue grew by about 17% a year under Advent, while Lockheed’s Rotary and Mission Systems unit had flat 2025 sales and lower profit.
- The price is about 2.8% of Lockheed’s market value and about half its 2025 free cash flow, based on early U.S. market data.
- Lockheed shares were down 1.3% in early trade, close to Northrop Grumman NYSE:NOC, while General Dynamics NYSE:GD was down less and RTX NYSE:RTX was near flat.
Lockheed Martin agreed to buy Ultra Maritime, an undersea warfare and anti-submarine systems supplier, from private equity firm Advent for $3.45 billion, a deal that gives the largest U.S. defense contractor a faster-growing naval asset but does not change its scale overnight. Ultra will join Lockheed’s Rotary and Mission Systems business after closing.
The investor angle is the price. The deal equals about 20% of Rotary and Mission Systems’ 2025 sales and about 2.6 times that unit’s 2025 operating profit. It is also about 50% of Lockheed’s 2025 free cash flow, based on the company’s full-year figures.
| Investor math | Figure | Read-through |
|---|---|---|
| Ultra Maritime purchase price | $3.45 billion | Bolt-on, not a company-changing deal. Media – Lockheed Martin |
| Deal as share of Lockheed market value | About 2.8% | Manageable for balance sheet watchers, based on the current $124.2 billion market value. |
| Deal as share of 2025 free cash flow | About 50% | Large enough to matter for buybacks, debt and M&A pacing. Media – Lockheed Martin |
| Deal as share of RMS 2025 sales | About 20% | Directly tied to the unit that will absorb Ultra. Media – Lockheed Martin |
| Price to reported 2026 Ultra revenue estimate | About 4.4 times | Financial Times reported Ultra revenue was on track for about $784 million in 2026. Financial Times |
That multiple is the bet. Advent said it had put about $170 million into advanced product development and manufacturing capacity at Ultra over the past three years, and that Ultra’s annual revenue grew by around 17% a year during that period. Lockheed’s Rotary and Mission Systems unit, by comparison, reported 2025 sales of $17.31 billion, about flat with 2024, and operating profit fell 31% to $1.32 billion.
Stephanie C. Hill, president of Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, said, “Undersea superiority belongs to those who move fastest and work together best.” Shonnel Malani, managing partner at Advent and chair of Ultra Electronics, said Ultra had become a “stronger, more innovative partner to allied navies.” Media – Lockheed Martin
Ultra makes sonar technologies, sonobuoys, torpedo defense systems, radar systems and autonomous maritime sensing platforms. Reuters reported that Ultra earlier this year won a U.S. Navy development contract for an underwater acoustic decoy designed to protect ships and submarines from torpedoes.
| Defense demand marker | Size or timing | Link to Ultra deal |
|---|---|---|
| Ultra Maritime acquisition | $3.45 billion | Adds anti-submarine and undersea systems to Lockheed’s RMS unit. Media – Lockheed Martin |
| THAAD procurement award | Up to $35 billion over seven years | Shows Lockheed’s capital demand is not only in naval systems. Media – Lockheed Martin |
| Lockheed 2025 backlog | $194 billion | Gives the buyer a large base before adding Ultra. Media – Lockheed Martin |
| AUKUS unmanned undersea vehicle plan | Deliveries set to start in 2027 | Points to allied demand for undersea drones, sensors and payloads. Reuters |
Ultra also gives Lockheed exposure to newer undersea programs. Ultra said it had partnerships with Anduril Industries for autonomous ocean sensing and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems for unmanned airborne anti-submarine warfare. Reuters also cited those partnerships in its same-day report.
The market reaction was mild, but not positive. Lockheed was down 1.3% at $538.87 in early U.S. trade, with its latest quoted market value at about $124.24 billion. Northrop Grumman also fell 1.3%, General Dynamics lost 0.3% and RTX was near flat.
| Company | Ticker | Early move | Market value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lockheed Martin | NYSE:LMT | -1.3% | $124.2 billion |
| Northrop Grumman | NYSE:NOC | -1.3% | $77.2 billion |
| General Dynamics | NYSE:GD | -0.3% | $100.6 billion |
| RTX | NYSE:RTX | +0.0% | $268.2 billion |
Regulatory risk remains open. Ultra and Advent said the transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. That matters because Ultra sells undersea and anti-submarine systems to allied naval forces, and Lockheed said the assets would expand its sonar offerings across next-generation maritime platforms.
Lockheed’s next scheduled investor event is its second-quarter earnings webcast on July 23 at 8:30 a.m. EDT, where investors may get the first management detail on funding, approvals and timing.
Related articles: NYSE:LMT
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