Applied Aerospace and PCX Aerosystems Merge to Form Defense Hardware Supplier

This article is based on an official press release from Applied Aerospace & Defense.

Applied Aerospace and PCX Aerosystems Merge to Create Defense Hardware Giant

On December 3, 2025, Applied Aerospace and PCX Aerosystems announced their formal merger, establishing a new unified entity named Applied Aerospace & Defense. The consolidation brings together two significant portfolio companies of Greenbriar Equity Group, creating a large-scale supplier dedicated to critical hardware for the aerospace, space, and defense sectors.

According to the official announcement, the newly formed company will operate with a workforce of over 1,300 employees and a manufacturing footprint spanning 1.3 million square feet across nine locations. The mergers is designed to integrate the specialized composite capabilities of Applied Aerospace with the precision metal machining expertise of PCX Aerosystems, offering a “one-stop” hardware solution for major industry primes.

Trip Ferguson, formerly the Chief Operating Officer at BlueHalo, has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the combined organization. The company will maintain a dual-hub operational structure, keeping major campuses in Stockton, California, and Newington, Connecticut.

Strategic Rationale: Combining Composites and Metals

The merger addresses a growing demand in the defense industrial base for suppliers capable of delivering complex, hybrid hardware solutions. By uniting these two organizations, Applied Aerospace & Defense aims to bridge the gap between advanced composite manufacturing and high-precision metallurgy.

Complementary Capabilities

Prior to the merger, the two companies held distinct but complementary market positions:

• Applied Aerospace (Stockton, CA): Known for large-scale complex composite and metal-bonded structures, including satellite bus structures, solar arrays, and radomes. Their recent acquisitions of Innovative Composite Engineering (ICE) and NeXolve further expanded their reach into space materials.
• PCX Aerosystems (Newington, CT): Specialized in flight-critical assemblies and precision machining, producing components such as rotor-heads, landing gear, and transmission assemblies for rotorcraft and fixed-wing platforms.

The combined entity is positioned to serve a wide range of sectors, including space exploration (launch vehicles and satellites), defense (missile systems and military aircraft), and commercial aviation.

Leadership and Operational Footprint

Trip Ferguson takes the helm as CEO, bringing extensive experience from the defense technology sector. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Ferguson previously managed operations at BlueHalo, a company known for its rapid growth in the defense space. In a statement regarding the merger, Ferguson emphasized the company’s commitment to heritage and agility.

“The new Applied Aerospace & Defense is forged in heritage, trusted in action, driven by mission, and engineered for agility. Our blue-chip customers and partners can expect the same experienced team, commitment to quality, and precision hardware… that they have come to trust.”

, Trip Ferguson, CEO of Applied Aerospace & Defense

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The company’s operational strategy involves maintaining its legacy headquarters in both California and Connecticut, ensuring continuity for existing programs while leveraging a footprint that now extends across five states, including Washington, Alabama, and Massachusetts.

AirPro News Analysis

This merger reflects a broader trend of consolidation within the aerospace supply chain, particularly among private equity-backed firms. Greenbriar Equity Group has effectively built a platform capable of competing for larger “programs of record” by combining niche specialists into a single, more robust entity.

For Tier 1 primes like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, managing a fragmented supply chain has become increasingly difficult amidst global disruptions. A supplier that can handle both the composite airframe structures and the metallic landing gear or propulsion components offers significant logistical advantages. We anticipate that Applied Aerospace & Defense will leverage this scale to bid on more complex, integrated sub-assemblies rather than just individual parts, positioning itself as a critical tier-1.5 supplier in the defense industrial base.

Sources

Sources: PR Newswire (Official Press Release)