Textron Systems

Textron Systems is the defense arm of Textron Inc., the Providence-based industrial conglomerate that also owns Bell and Textron Aviation, and it operates out of Hunt Valley, Maryland, a site tied to its roots in AAI Corporation, the aerospace firm founded there in 1923. Rather than one flagship platform, Textron Systems is built around a family of specialist brands working across air, land, sea, weapons, and training. Its unmanned aircraft line includes the Aerosonde, a small, runway-independent surveillance drone used by the US Navy and Marine Corps, and NIGHTWARDEN, a larger tactical unmanned aircraft system that evolved out of the earlier Shadow program and is aimed at persistent ISR missions. On the ground, its Howe & Howe subsidiary builds the Ripsaw M5, an unmanned combat vehicle developed for the Army's Robotic Combat Vehicle program that can carry sensor turrets, a tethered SkyRaider reconnaissance drone, and various weapon options, plus the Commando family of armored vehicles and the Cottonmouth amphibious combat vehicle concept.

At sea, its Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle, now in its fourth generation, was selected as the Department of Defense's system of choice for its first program of record for small uncrewed surface vessels, used for mine countermeasures, ISR, and harbor security. Its Weapon Systems line includes the Damocles precision-guided launched effect, a small air-launched munition meant to extend the reach of manned and unmanned aircraft. Lycoming Engines, another Textron Systems brand, has built piston aircraft engines for more than 90 years and still powers over half the world's general aviation fleet, giving the division a sizable commercial as well as military footprint that helps smooth out the lumpiness of defense procurement cycles. AAI Corporation, the Hunt Valley firm from which Textron Systems traces much of its lineage, was itself a pioneer in early American unmanned aircraft development going back to the Shadow program, work that still shapes how the division approaches uncrewed systems today.

ATAC, the Airborne Tactical Advantage Company, runs the largest outsourced adversary air training operation in the country, flying contracted fighter jets against Navy and Air Force pilots to simulate enemy aircraft in training exercises. The Electronic Systems side of the business, less publicly visible than the vehicles, covers dozens of sensor, targeting, and boresight products used across the other domains. Textron Systems reported roughly $900 million in new government defense contract awards in 2025 and continues to expand its unmanned systems work as the Pentagon pushes harder toward robotic and autonomous platforms across every domain the company operates in, from unmanned aircraft and ground robots to the small boats now doing mine-hunting and harbor patrol work once handled entirely by crewed vessels.