Science Applications International Corp. has acquired Atlantic Coast Telesys Corp., a Maryland-based provider of solutions to intelligence, defense and commercial customers. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

ACT joins SAIC’s Advanced Technologies and Solutions Group, becoming the Mission Research and Solutions Operation. Rich Shields, vice president of ACT, will manage the new operation, which will be based in Hanover, Md.

ACT was founded in 1988 and has offices in Hanover and Quantico, Va. The company has 200 employees, who provide products and services in the areas of digital signals processing, software and hardware engineering, integration and testing, program management, systems engineering, Web portal development and very small aperture terminal systems.

Aronson Capital Partners LLC of Rockville, Md., advised ACT in the sale.

“ACT is an important small business contractor in our marketplace,” said Dave Johnson, senior vice president and manager of the ATS group. “This acquisition can help us strengthen our position as a principal provider of products and services to our customers within the intelligence community. We look forward to adding ACT’s talented people to our team of dedicated employee owners.”

Headquartered in San Diego, SAIC brought in 2003 revenue of $5.9 billion and employed more than 39,000 people. The company was No. 3 in Washington Technology’s Top 100 rankings of government prime contractors.