https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...th-acquisition



Boeing Co. is buying drone pioneer Aurora Flight Sciences Corp., gaining a portfolio of futuristic technology such as unmanned air taxis that may someday navigate city skies for Uber Technologies Inc.

With the acquisition, Boeing is betting that smarter airplanes will dominate flying, with computer algorithms and artificial intelligence playing an increasingly important role in the cockpit. Aurora is an early leader in autonomous flying, with products like a robotic co-pilot and software that can sense landing strips.

“We can’t predict what that future looks like. But whatever form that air travel takes, we want to be a leader,” Greg Hyslop, Boeing’s chief technology officer, said on a webcast after the acquisition was announced Thursday.

The deal underscores Boeing’s focus on smaller, targeted transactions while competitors such as Northrop Grumman Corp. and suppliers like United Technologies Corp. pursue large-scale mergers. Boeing said the purchase of Manassas, Virginia-based Aurora, which has 550 employees, wouldn’t affect its financial guidance.

Terms weren’t disclosed in a statement by the companies. Hyslop didn’t say if he expects the takeover to close this year, noting that the purchase is subject to U.S. Defense Department approval over the transfer of some of Aurora’s leading-edge technologies.


Aurora has designed, produced and flown more than 30 unmanned air vehicles since the company was founded in 1989. Its aircraft use autonomous technology including perception, machine learning and advanced flight-control systems. There’s the Centaur, an “optionally piloted aircraft,” and a robotic co-pilot that has flown a Boeing 737 flight simulator.