Following the closing, BlackSea becomes AEVEX’s Maritime Systems division, led by former BlackSea CEO Bob Pudney, to preserve its mission-focused culture, deep customer relationships, and at-scale maritime manufacturing. The combination positions AEVEX as one of the defense industry’s most comprehensive multi-domain autonomous systems companies, capable of delivering effects across air, surface, and subsea domains, with combat-proven platforms that are deployed in theater today.
BlackSea has delivered 350+ unmanned surface vessels, more than any other US unmanned surface vehicle (USV) provider, and has 25,000+ operational hours, including providing significant support to US Navy 5th Fleet operations and missions such as Operation Epic Fury.
BlackSea’s Baltimore manufacturing complex—featuring deepwater access, two 30-ton bridge cranes, advanced robotic welding, and ~40 USVs/month production capacity—joins AEVEX’s existing scaled domestic production network.
BlackSea’s capabilities will be combined with AEVEX’s substantial portfolio of mission-proven Group I–V unmanned aerial systems (UAS), long-range precision strike systems, contested logistics capabilities, and ISR platforms, with more than 10,000 systems delivered and committed through 2026, supported by 114% year-over-year production volume growth in Q2 and strong supply-chain throughput improvements.
Together, the combined company offers:
- Battle-tested UAS, USVs, and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs)
- Large-scale manufacturing in both air and maritime domains
- Mission autonomy software (CompassX)
- Multi-domain payload integration
- End-to-end operational support in contested environments
This combination is expected to enable integrated air-surface-subsea missions, rapid capability deployment, and attritable autonomy at scale—directly aligned with Department of Defense priorities.
BlackSea continues operating under its current structure and operating rhythm to maintain uninterrupted support to Navy, SOCOM, IC, and allied programs while preparing carefully sequenced integration pathways that enhance cross-domain capability.
“Closing this acquisition marks an important milestone in AEVEX’s strategy,” said Brian Raduenz, Founder and Executive Chairman of AEVEX. “BlackSea’s maritime platforms, engineering talent, and mission-focused culture align directly with our own. Together, our teams represent one of the most capable and operationally relevant multi-domain autonomous systems providers in the defense sector.”
“With demand for autonomous systems accelerating globally, customers are prioritizing providers who can deliver field-proven capability at scale,” said Roger Wells, Chief Executive Officer of AEVEX. “BlackSea brings one of the Navy’s most operationally deployed unmanned surface systems, significant production capacity, and trusted customer relationships. Combined with AEVEX’s air-domain capability and CompassX autonomy ecosystem, we are strongly positioned to deliver affordable, multi-domain effects wherever the mission requires.”
“Becoming part of AEVEX allows BlackSea to scale our impact across maritime missions while preserving the engineering depth, operational rigor, and customer intimacy that define our culture,” said Pudney. “Our teams are energized to begin the next chapter together, one that strengthens our support for warfighters and brings even greater capability to our customers.”
For more information, visit: www.aevex.com
