Leonardo DRS announced this week that it will acquire Raft in an all-cash transaction valued at $450 million. The purchase, disclosed in a company press release Tuesday, combines Raft’s open-architecture mission software with DRS’s existing sensing and computing businesses. Raft, founded in 2018, is described by the companies as a specialist in fusing diverse data streams to support multidomain operations and to accelerate commanders’ decision making.
John Baylouny on capabilities, speed, and AI-enabled missions
“Our customers increasingly require integrated hardware, software, data and autonomy to support mission outcomes,” John Baylouny, president and chief executive officer of Leonardo DRS, said in the release. He framed the Raft purchase as a complement to DRS’s sensing and computing capabilities that will “strengthen our ability to deliver AI-enabled mission solutions at the speed our customers demand.”
Baylouny has also told Breaking Defense in a recent interview that he is looking for acquisitions to fill technology gaps or add capabilities such as artificial intelligence. “There’s a lot of different opportunities — and I’m not saying structural gaps — but how do we enhance, go to an adjacency?” he said. He added that acquisitions might answer customer or geographic gaps — and stressed, “Our focus is organic. But we are active, looking for inorganic as well.”
Raft’s role inside Pacific and Army command-and-control efforts
Raft has been active in prototype and operational efforts with U.S. forces in the Pacific. As Breaking Defense previously reported, Raft has been heavily involved in the Army’s Next Generation Command and Control prototype effort in the Pacific with 25th Infantry Division. The company also figures into the Army’s common data baseline workstream: Raft will play a major role as part of that baseline, which was awarded to Anduril in June.
Beyond the Army, Raft’s work extends into the Air Force and Pacific Air Forces, where the company is reported to be powering command-and-control tools. Those engagements frame Raft as an integrator of multiple data streams across domains and services.
Deal structure and company origins
The transaction is structured as an all-cash purchase valued at $450 million, according to Leonardo DRS. Raft was founded in 2018; its founder and chief executive officer, Shubhi Mishra, said in the release that “joining DRS is a natural next step for our team and our mission.” Mishra emphasized Raft’s open-architecture platform, saying it “was built to integrate across systems, not lock customers in,” and suggested that pairing with DRS’s franchises will “accelerate our ability to deliver mission capability at a global scale.”
What this means for the Army, the Air Force and Leonardo DRS customers
- The Army: Units involved in Next Generation Command and Control prototypes, including the 25th Infantry Division, will now see Raft technology owned by a larger defense electronics supplier — potentially shortening procurement and integration paths where Raft has been a software integrator in Pacific prototypes and in work tied to the common data baseline awarded to Anduril.
- The Air Force and Pacific Air Forces: Raft’s command-and-control tooling for these organizations is now part of Leonardo DRS’s portfolio, a change the companies argue should enable more tightly coupled sensing, computing and software solutions for C2 tools already in use or development.
- Leonardo DRS customers: For defense customers seeking “integrated hardware, software, data and autonomy,” the companies present the deal as a way to accelerate delivery of AI-enabled mission solutions. Customers will be watching how DRS integrates Raft’s open-architecture approach without creating vendor lock-in, a point Raft’s CEO highlighted.
The acquisition is presented by both companies as a strategic pairing: Raft brings open-architecture, data-fusing mission software; Leonardo DRS brings sensing and computing franchises and a stated appetite for accelerating AI-enabled solutions. The press release and Baylouny’s comments position the deal as part of a broader approach that blends organic investment with selective acquisitions to address capability adjacencies and geographic or customer channels.
As the deal progresses, the concrete next steps will be integration: marrying Raft’s open-architecture platform with DRS’s sensing and computing capabilities, and aligning existing Pacific and joint-service engagements under new corporate ownership. How that technical and programmatic integration unfolds — particularly where Raft’s role intersects with the Army’s common data baseline and Anduril’s award — will determine whether the companies meet the speed and interoperability goals Baylouny described.
Original reporting: https://breakingdefense.com/2026/07/leonardo-drs-to-acquire-software-company-raft/
