Reston heavyweight Leidos is peeling off its airport and port screening operations and dropping them into a new joint venture with Analogic, the companies announced Wednesday. The move shifts roughly 1,500 employees and about $625 million in projected 2026 revenue into a separate business while leaving Leidos with a minority stake. For local workers and vendors tied into Leidos in Northern Virginia, it is a clear pivot toward higher-growth software and services work.
Deal details and structure
Under the agreement, Leidos is carving out its Security Enterprise Solutions, Ports & Borders and Industrial Automation units and combining them with Analogic to form a U.S.-based, privately held screening and detection company. Leidos will walk away with 41.5% of the new venture’s equity, while certain Altaris affiliates will own the rest. In all, about 1,500 employees and roughly $625 million in projected 2026 revenue are slated to move into the joint venture.
The transaction is laid out in a Form 8-K filed by Leidos and is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to the usual regulatory approvals and financing conditions, according to StockTitan.
Who will run the new company
The combined operation will keep the Analogic name and be led by Analogic’s current CEO, Tom Ripp, the companies said in their joint announcement. “Today marks an important milestone for our company and for the security industry,” Ripp said, adding that the tie-up is expected to broaden product lines and sales channels for the merged business. His comments appeared in a press release distributed via Business Wire.
Why Leidos is doing this
Leidos says spinning off the screening units into a joint venture should let the new company pour more investment into next-generation detection and imaging technologies, while freeing Leidos itself to double down on its NorthStar 2030 growth strategy. In other words, the legacy, manufacturing-heavy security hardware goes into the new bucket, and Leidos keeps pressing its bets on higher-growth sectors.
That strategic shift toward faster-growing work and away from lower-margin gear was also highlighted in coverage by the Washington Business Journal. The move is both a portfolio reshuffle and a nod to broader consolidation in the airport screening market.
Local ripple effects
About 1,500 people will be transferred into the joint venture, a change that could eventually affect where those jobs are managed and how procurement for parts and maintenance is handled. The companies have not said whether any roles will relocate. Analogic is headquartered in Salem, New Hampshire, which gives the new venture an operational base outside Northern Virginia even as Leidos keeps its minority stake.
For now, the official line from both sides is business as usual: company statements emphasize continuity of service for airports, ports and government customers while the deal winds its way through approvals.
What’s next
Before the joint venture can launch, the transaction must clear customary regulatory reviews, a pre-closing restructuring and the placement of new debt at the JV level. The companies say they expect to wrap it all up in the second half of 2026.
The Form 8-K and related documents list advisors on both sides and include the standard warnings about forward-looking statements and closing risks, according to StockTitan. Investors and local officials will be watching how quickly the JV locks in its financing and whether any existing contracts that now run through Leidos get reshuffled.
For Reston, this is another reminder that the region’s big contractors are still remixing their portfolios, spinning out lower-margin, manufacturing-heavy units while keeping economic exposure through minority stakes. That can be a neat trick for shareholder value but it can also leave local supply chains and facilities holding their breath while new owners figure out how to bolt everything together.
