Vatn Systems, a Portsmouth-based defense technology company, announced Tuesday it has acquired Crewless Marine, a Rhode Island firm specializing in underwater acoustic sensing and signal processing.
The acquisition brings Crewless Marine’s expertise in torpedo acoustic systems, hydrophone manufacturing and real-time signal processing under Vatn’s umbrella as the company works to build autonomous underwater vehicles for the U.S. military, allied nations and commercial customers.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Acoustic sensing is fundamental to undersea warfare, and owning this capability end-to-end enables us to advance our mission while positioning us to expand into the harbor defense and environment monitoring markets,” Nelson Mills, co-founder and CEO of Vatn Systems, said in a statement.
Crewless Marine was founded by former Navy engineers and is currently executing a Navy Small Business Innovation Research contract for artificial intelligence and machine learning multi-sensor target localization.
As part of the acquisition, Crewless Marine co-founders Steve Bordonaro and Philip Caspers will join Vatn. Bordonaro, who holds a doctorate, will serve as chief engineer for systems, while Caspers, also holding a doctorate, will become director of acoustics.
Bordonaro brings more than 30 years of experience in acoustic signal processing, including senior leadership roles at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, where he served as chief scientist for the Sensors and Sonar Department and led torpedo guidance and control development.
“Joining Vatn allows us to scale the technologies we’ve spent our careers developing and bring them to a broader set of missions,” Bordonaro said.
The announcement follows Vatn’s $60 million Series A funding round and its first international sale to Singapore’s Defense Science and Technology Agency.
Vatn Systems was founded in 2023. Crewless Marine, also founded in 2023, has operated out of the Ocean Technology Center in Point Judith and Innovate Newport.