The Sperry Gyroscope Company researched, developed, and manufactured navigation equipment; three of the premiere products were the marine gyrostabilizer, the gyrocompass, and the high-intensity searchlight. The company was founded by Elmer A. Sperry (1860-1930) in 1910. In 1912, Sperry and his son Lawrence Sperry (1892-1923) developed the automatic airplane stabilization systems, later known as autopilots. During the years between 1915 and 1925, Sperry worked closely with the United States Navy to develop airplane stabilizers, gyrostabilized bombsights, automatic fire control systems, the aerial torpedo, and a number of anti-aircraft devices.

After the outbreak of the First World War, Elmer Sperry was asked to sit on the Naval Consulting Board, a position he held until 1925. During these years, he and his son Lawrence worked closely with the Navy to develop and manufacture the airplane stabilizer, gyrostabilized bombsights, automatic fire control systems, the aerial torpedo, and a number of anti-aircraft devices.

In the 1920s, the company began to sell its products abroad and opened several European and Japanese sales offices. After Elmer Sperry's death in 1930, the engineers at Sperry Gyroscope continued to develop increasingly sophisticated anti-aircraft devices, fire control, and automatic pilot systems. The company developed a pioneering radar system based on Klystron technology. Directors were developed to operate anti-aircraft weapons systems and utilized observational data to calculate firing solutions. The M-4 Director was standardized by Sperry in 1939 and was in use until superseded by the M-7 Director in 1941.

Elmer Sperry's most important contribution to technological development was his ability to apply the principles of the gyroscope to the problems associated with airplane and marine control and stabilization. Sperry worked closely with the U.S. Navy and helped launch a new era in research and development, one characterized by increasing government influence on the direction of technology for military purposes.