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Lockheed Martin has acquired Procerus Technologies, a privately owned Orem company that provides auto-piloting, targeting and payload technologies to governments, industry and academic institutions.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, a statement from the aerospace and defense contractor said.
Founded in 2004, Procerus's innovations can be seen in products such as the lightweight but full-featured Kestrel autopilot system, used in small unmanned aircraft systems for surveillance and reconnaissance purposes.
Procerus CEO Todd Titensor said he sees benefits from the ownership change.
"Our purpose is to bring innovative and meaningful technologies to this critical capability for the military and future customers," he said. "Becoming a part of Lockheed Martin will allow us to advance these goals and accelerate our ability to reach them more quickly."
Procerus employs 23 people, who will continue to work out of the Orem facility, Titensor said.
Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors (MS2), based in Washington, D.C., will manage Procerus, building on MS2's experience with Desert Hawk, Persistent Threat Detection System aerostats, the K-MAX unmanned helicopter system and high altitude airship programs.
Adding Procerus will allow Lockheed Martin to enhance its product portfolio and better serve its customers, Chairman and CEO Bob Stevens said.
"Small unmanned aerial vehicles are low-cost, highly effective tools for our military," Stevens said, "and the expertise Procerus brings will enhance the value we offer to our customers."
Lockheed Martin employs about 126,000 people worldwide who research, design, develop, manufacture, integrate and sustain advanced technology systems, products and services. In 2010, its corporate sales hit $45.8 billion.