DRS Technologies
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| Subsidiary of Leonardo S.p.A. | |
| Industry | Defense |
| Founded | 1968 |
| Headquarters | Arlington, Virginia, United States |
| Website | www.drs.com |
Leonardo DRS, formerly DRS Technologies, Inc., is a US-based defense contractor. Previously traded on the NYSE, the company was purchased by the Italian firm Finmeccanica (now Leonardo S.p.A.) in October 2008.
Diagnostic/Retrieval Systems, Inc (DRS) was founded in 1968 by Leonard Newman (whose son, Mark Newman, was the CEO until Jan-2012) and David Gross, two engineers working for Loral Corporation. The two were working on signal processing techniques for anti-submarine warfare. When Loral chose to pursue other technology, Newman and Gross founded DRS to continue their research, which ultimately led to development of the AN/SQR-17 passive submarine detection system, a product still used today.
DRS went public in 1981 and acquired its first company in 1984. By 1994, DRS set a goal to become a mid-tier defense contractor, defined by $500M in sales – notwithstanding that DRS at the time had only $58M in sales. Six years later, at the turn of the century, DRS reached the $391M sales level, and in 2004 surpassed the $1B sales mark.
DRS was acquired by the Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica S.p.A. (now Leonardo) in 2008.
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