BREMEN, Germany, March 8 (UPI) -- Germany's Atlas Elektronik Group, a maritime defense business, has started a U.S. subsidiary for potential work with the U.S. Navy.
"We are proud to set a first footprint in the U.S.," Dieter Rottsieper and Kai Horten, managing directors of the group said in a statement. "It's an honor and a challenge to enter the most demanding defense market of the world.
"We are really looking forward to creating new partnerships with the U.S. Navy, (U.S. government) authorities and companies."
The subsidiary is called Atlas North America. Its office is in Virginia Beach, Va., close to the U.S. Navy's Atlantic Fleet headquarters in Norfolk, Va.
"We can deliver leading mine warfare and countermeasure systems, torpedo and anti-torpedo torpedoes and all of the other Atlas Elektronik Group Products in support of the U.S. Navy to make the sea a safer place," said Sergio Diehl, head of Atlas North America.
Atlas said establishing the subsidiary is part of an overall plan to expand the group's international presence.
