Spotlight Q&A with Logen Thiran, CEO, Antenna Research Associates

JED: You joined ARA as CEO in 2014. How has your previous experience at SIGINT system developers helped influenced your strategic vision for ARA over the past decade?

Thiran: My previous experience in SIGINT/EW primarily focused on all but the antenna front-end of the C5ISR subsystem. When I joined ARA, it was apparent that ARA had a broad customer base, great reputation, engineering, and manufacturing know-how of RF front-end antenna subsystems. It was also obvious to us that the RF front-end expertise is a clear differentiator in any C5ISR system. The approach we took was to develop a capability to transform the business into a strong C5ISR subsystems business building on the RF platform know-how. With this integrated approach, ARA stands out in its weight class in our industry, and we are excited to continue to build ARA into a solutions business.

JED: There are a lot of antenna companies in the EW and SIGINT space. What makes ARA unique?

Thiran: ARA’s culture of agility and willingness to adapt to a rapidly evolving market. We offer the best of both worlds: large company capability with a small company culture. And we are proud of our industry leading technologists, as well as the rest of our talented workforce.

JED: What types of investments has ARA made in people and technology to begin expanding ARA's capabilities from being a designer and manufacturer of passive antennas to becoming an AESA technology developer and manufacturer?

Thiran: ARA has a robust IRAD program that develops fundamental capabilities that can be applied more broadly. For example, we have invested in developing multiband AESA technologies, as well as additive manufacturing for unique antenna system and signature management applications.
We also continue to invest in maintaining our robust EW antenna line of business and serve customers with SIGINT and EW antennas worldwide. Our lead times are far ahead of industry standards, and we are willing to build ahead of customers’ needs to meet mission requirements.
Both Government and non-government customers have also funded co-development of key capabilities applicable to the EW mission more broadly. We work with all departments and agencies within the DOD, including the Air Force, Army, Navy, and MDA.
ARA’s broad relationships across industry enable us to build a best-in-class team that can architect optimal customer solutions; thus, allowing us to punch above our weight, so to speak.
ARA also has a robust recruiting program sourcing talent directly from universities, government, and industry. Over the last year, we have increased our technical staff by double digits. We are always looking for new talent, specifically engineers and program managers.

JED: What are some of the important trends that you've seen in the EW and SIGINT market over the past decade, and how is ARA responding to some of those trends with its product offerings?

Thiran: Current global threats are demonstrating the increasing importance of SIGINT and EW to the warfighter. Because of this, EW opportunities and EW-focused investments remain central to ARA’s strategy. For SIGINT, wideband system sensitivity and low SWAP-C continue to be important to customers. For EW generally, capabilities for wider frequencies and higher power transmission. We are focusing on interoperability based on MOSA standards to provide a true common sensor architecture on various platforms.
And as we have seen recently, the need for attritable, low-cost solutions are critical to counter the proliferation of threats to the warfighter.
Our team is focused on building sustainable partnerships with customers to develop and deploy cost competitive, high-performance technologies.

JED: ARA was recently acquired by private equity firm OceanSound Partners. How will this help drive ARA's strategy in serving its existing markets as well as pursuing new markets?

Thiran: OceanSound is an ideal partner for ARA’s next phase of growth. We were at an important inflection point in our company’s development, and OceanSound’s expertise in the A&D technology market will accelerate our strategic transformation. We’re focusing on making complementary investments and acquisitions of technology solutions, and plan to leverage their support to continue to scale through investments in ARA as we have successfully done in the past with the acquisitions of AQYR & Si2.