Citadel Defense Scores U.S. Military Contract for Counter-drone Product

C-UAS provider Citadel Defense Company this past week won its sixth government contract, signing an agreement to provide the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency counter-drone measures in support of Special Operations Command requirements

Recognizing that rogue UAVs can threaten troops on the ground, several defense agencies are ramping up drone-mitigation tech and autonomous, portable systems such as Citadel’s are proving to fit the bill.

Citadel CEO Christopher Williams said:

“By working alongside the U.S. Government and hundreds of warfighters, we’ve fielded a capability that works today, at scale, and with minimal field support in the harshest operating environments.  Through a close partnership with users, Citadel Defense delivers a drone protection solution for customers that is constantly improving, constantly incorporating user feedback, and constantly adapting to meet future threats and outpace our adversaries.”

The contract will deploy Citadel’s Titan system — an array that detects drone controllers, video and Wi-Fi links for individual drones and swarms and can then bring them down. Titan can be set up in about 5 minutes for deployment for military, government or commercial use.

Counter-drone companies have been signing up government agencies and corporations at a rapid pace over the past several years. While the vast majority of drones are piloted by trained users, a few instances of unauthorized or malevolent UAV operators can pose dangers to military ops, firefighting efforts, airports and utility infrastructure.

The British Army uses counter-drone tech from Israeli firm RADA Electronic Industries. The suite includes the company’s Multi-Mission Hemispheric Radars embedded in the Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Drone Dome counter-drone solution.

Saudi Arabia’s largest telecom company recently partnered with counter-drone firm DroneShield to protect the country’s infrastructure and assets from rogue UAVs.

Finnish-based Sensofusion has ramped up production of its anti-drone AIRFENCE solution. The package automatically detects, locates, tracks and takes rogue drones and offers long-range jamming capabilities, improved directional geolocation and rugged hardware rig. AIRFENCE has participated at NASA UTM’s TCL2 campaign. The U.S. Marine Corps awarded a contract to Sensofusion, in partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental.