L Squared Launches New Aerospace, Space, and Defense Platform

L Squared Capital Partners has announced the formation of a new aerospace, space, and defense platform led by operating executive Philip Gunn. The initiative reflects the firm’s intent to build a scaled portfolio of specialized suppliers that support critical national security missions and next generation aerospace programs.

Leadership With Deep Sector Experience

Philip Gunn joins L Squared after leading business development and M and A efforts at Raptor Scientific. He is a U.S. Air Force combat veteran with experience across strategic partnerships, corporate development, and policy. His background positions him to guide the firm’s thematic investment strategy focused on high reliability components, mission critical technologies, and modeling, simulation, test and training capabilities.

Gunn will work closely with the investment team to identify and acquire middle market suppliers that support both government and commercial aerospace customers. The firm is initially targeting companies generating between three and thirty million dollars of EBITDA.

Strategy Focused on Consolidation and Capability Building

L Squared views the aerospace, space, and defense sector as an under invested market with significant opportunities to consolidate fragmented suppliers. The firm aims to build a platform with enhanced engineering depth, supply chain resiliency, and manufacturing capacity, capabilities that are increasingly important as defense and space programs accelerate development timelines and expand production requirements.

The strategy aligns with broader industry trends, including increased demand for autonomous systems, advanced test and evaluation infrastructure, and components that support modern mission sets.

Momentum From Prior Platform Successes

The new initiative builds on L Squared’s track record of creating scaled platforms in technical and industrial markets. Previous efforts include Raptor Scientific, BTX Precision, Cognesense, GWS Tool Group, Elevated, Crane1, and FineLine. The firm’s long term investment approach is supported by a stable investor base that prioritizes growth over financial engineering.

Leadership noted that current market conditions, including rising defense and space budgets and the need for rapid, cost effective solutions, create a favorable environment for assembling a differentiated portfolio of aerospace and defense suppliers.

Positioned to Support Evolving National Security Requirements

Gunn emphasized that the national security landscape is shifting toward faster delivery cycles and integrated technology solutions. The planned platform is intended to meet these evolving requirements by combining specialized businesses at the intersection of modeling, simulation, test and training and mission critical component technologies.

For aerospace and defense organizations, the effort signals additional investment in the supplier base that supports advanced systems development, test infrastructure, and production readiness.