Lockheed Martin paying $3.5 billion for naval defense-tech company

Zoom in: Braintree, Massachusetts-based Ultra Marine says it provides "undersea warfare and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities for allied naval forces."

Elsewhere: Thales today agreed to buy Exail Technologies, a French maker of submarine drones, for €3.9 billion.

The bottom line: Aerial drones had — and are still having — a moment. Surface and subsurface seem to be next, after years of U.S. Navy leadership banging the hybrid-fleet drum. Defense companies big and small are jockeying for position.