VT Group Acquires Evergreen Unmanned
Systems
September 26, 2010
Gaithersburg, MD -- VT Group today announced that it has
acquired the Evergreen Unmanned Systems business unit, part of
Evergreen International Aviation Inc.
Evergreen Unmanned Systems is a leading provider of support for
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The firm has a proven performance
record for both the ScanEagle and Maveric platforms, with more than
10,000 hours of flight time operating the ScanEagle. The current
service offering includes: training, logistics, operations, payload
integration and testing to a range of government and commercial
customers.
VT Group, the U.S. arm of UK-based Babcock International Group
PLC (BAB.L), delivers customer-critical services to the Department
of Defense and government agencies. It currently supports aviation
missions through maintenance, training, logistics and high-level
program analysis. For the past 12 years, the company has delivered
support services to the Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM)
including AH-64, UH-60, OH-58 and CH-47 platforms. The acquisition
will enable VT Group to extend its aviation support capabilities in
fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft and missile systems to the
rapidly-growing UAS market.
"Over the next ten years, the UAS market is on pace to more than
double, representing significant opportunities for companies with
the right capabilities," said David Dacquino, Chief Executive
Officer of VT Group. "By combining VT Group's extensive aviation
support experience with Evergreen Unmanned Systems' capabilities
and performance record, we can offer an enhanced capability in this
developing market."
Evergreen Unmanned Systems personnel will join VT Group's
Technical Services Division and will continue to work either in the
field with customers or at the McMinnville, Ore. campus. Brian
Whiteside will lead the UAS organization and report to Chris
Taylor, President of the Technical Services Division, within VT
Group.
"Evergreen International Aviation takes exceptional pride in its
50-year legacy of matching machine to mission though innovation,
flexibility and agility," said Del Smith, Founder and Owner,
Evergreen International Aviation, Inc. "Our customer relationships
and service reputation are very important to us, so we would only
accept a perfect fit for a company acquiring this part of our
business. VT Group's global reach and proven track record in
delivering aviation support are precisely in line with our
expectations, and they are perfectly positioned to service our UAS
customers."
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About VT Group
VT Group's operations provide customer-critical technical
services to the Department of Defense and other government
agencies. VT Group's 2,500 personnel are passionate about serving
their customers. VT Group provides services from design and
acquisition to operation and maintenance of facilities and assets,
through to providing support and training - to everyone from
electrician's mates and aviators to crew captains, financial
managers and logisticians. VT Group recently became a part of
Babcock International Group PLC, the UK's leading engineering
support services organization with 27,000 staff across the globe
who build, manage, operate and maintain assets that are vital to
the delivery of many key public services.
For more information on Babcock, visit http://www.babcock.co.uk/
For more information on VT Group,
visit http://www.vt-group.com