This past Thursday, Arlington Capital Partners subsidiary BlueHalo, a leading provider of advanced engineering solutions and technology to the national security community, announced its acquisition of Citadel Defense Company.  With Citadel Defense acquired by BlueHalo, AI-powered counter drone solutions will round out the company’s defense solutions.

by Ian M. Crosby

Citadel, headquartered in San Diego, develops advanced counter unmanned aerial systems (“cUAS”) technology employed by customers in the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community, as well as civilian, commercial, and international markets. Since 2016, the company’s team of engineers and data scientists have been developing top of the line cUAS products that make use of artificial intelligence and machine learning (“AI/ML”) algorithms to allow operators to detect drone threats, track flight paths, and autonomously neutralize threats. Citadel’s industry-leading solutions provide a marked operational advantage for servicemen and servicewomen on the front lines. When combating drone swarms and difficult-to-detect threats, Citadel’s AI/ML-powered systems enable operators to identify and eliminate enemy UAS threats with pinpoint accuracy and unrivaled speed and reliability.

A rapidly growing national security platform, BlueHalo possesses market-leading capabilities in diverse areas such as directed energy, cUAS, space superiority, space technology, advanced RF, autonomy, and cyber & SIGINT. The Citadel acquisition compliments BlueHalo’s existing trajectory and layered perimeter defense capabilities where the company delivers a full suite of products, such as the Locust Laser Weapon System and Argus Perimeter Security Solution. The combination of Citadel’s cUAS capabilities with BlueHalo’s existing portfolio of proprietary technology will allow the company to provide multi-modal, unified cUAS solutions that aid the warfighter and safeguard critical infrastructure.

“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,” said BlueHalo CEO Jonathan Moneymaker. “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 increasing sophistication and widespread availability of UAS represents a critical and growing threat vector that will increasingly become a top priority for more and more organizations,” said David Wodlinger, a Partner at Arlington Capital Partners. “Citadel has developed an innovative cUAS solution that we believe counters this threat in a differentiated way, positioning the Company to capture an outsized share of this large and growing market.”

“Under the BlueHalo platform, our new and existing customers will benefit from an expanded set of capabilities, talent, and resources to achieve greater mission impact,” said Citadel CEO Chris Williams. “We are excited to join an innovative company that we know will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible.”

“The Citadel team is passionate about developing cutting-edge technology to address novel security threats, making this acquisition an excellent fit from a cultural perspective,” added Arlington Capital Partners Vice President Henry Albers. “We are excited to welcome these talented engineers to the organization as well as incorporate Citadel’s technology into BlueHalo’s rapidly expanding portfolio of proprietary solutions.”

Read more about Citadel DoD contracts, solutions, AI-powered defense solutions, and latest additions to the lineup.

Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.