BlueHalo, a subsidiary of Arlington Capital Partners, added significant counter unmanned aerial systems (cUAS) technology with its acquisition of Citadel Defense Company. The cUAS products and capabilities supplement an existing line of advanced national security engineering solutions. Citadel, which began in 2016, is headquartered in San Diego, CA, has applied artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning (ML) algorithms to the automatic detection and defeat of adversary drones (see the figure) even when faced with swarms of enemy drones. BlueHalo brings its own expertise in RF, directed-energy, and signal intelligence (SIGINT) to the mix.
Jonathan Moneymaker, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BlueHalo, said: “Citadel has established itself as a leader in the cUAS market and continues to innovate at a pace necessary to stay ahead of the rapidly evolving threat environment. We are incredibly excited to partner with the Citadel team as we continue to expand our cUAS capabilities and deliver transformative, market leading solutions to our customers.” He added: “The combination of Citadel and BlueHalo’s unique technologies, deep mission intimacy, and systematic approach to innovation will accelerate our technology roadmap and allow us to rapidly field technologies critical to the warfighter.”
The Titan is an example of Citadel’s current cUAS technology. It is designed for fixed, mobile, and dismounted missions and can detect drones over a horizontal range to 3 km and defeat drones over a range as far as 1.5 km without disrupting nearby communications systems. It uses an Ethernet interface to a tablet for operation and a variety of available control frequencies, including 433, 868, and 915 MHz as well as 1.2, 2.4, and 5.8 GHz. The compact system measures 12.3 × 5.1 × 17.9 in. and weighs 20 lbs. and runs on batteries for as long as 5 h in detect mode and as long as 2.5 h in defeat mode.