Leonardo announced on 14 January 2025 that it had completed the sale of its Underwater Armaments & Systems (UAS) business line to Fincantieri.
Under the binding agreement signed on 9 May 2024, at the time of closing Leonardo received a payment of EUR 287 million, based on the fixed enterprise value component of EUR 300 million. The variable component, up to a maximum of EUR 115 million, along with standard price adjustments, will be determined following the approval of UAS’s final 2024 financial results. The total maximum enterprise value is EUR 415 million.
UAS began as Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei: a Finmeccanica company established in 1995 by the merging of the underwater activities of Whitehead, Elsag Sistemi Navali and USEA. The company specialised in the construction of submarine defence systems and in particular torpedoes, countermeasures and sonars.
In early 2016, however, the company merged into Leonardo, becoming a business line, and was renamed Underwater Armaments & Systems (UAS). The business line also includes a 50% participation in GEIE EuroTorp (established with Naval Group and Thales), which is dedicated to the design and construction of the MU90 light torpedo, and is resident at two locations in Italy: Livorno and Pozzuoli.
In 2023 the UAS line of business generated revenues of approximately EUR 160 million and an EBITDA of EUR 34 million.
