Citadel Scores USAF Counter-drone Contract

Counter-drone provider Citadel Defense Company this past week won another government contract – snagging a U.S. Airforce agreement to deploy the Titan mobile anti-drone system.

Rogue drones present a new threat to military personnel in a myriad of battle scenarios – especially from aircraft launched by terrorist groups such as ISIS.

The Titan system offers tech that detects drone controllers, video and Wi-Fi links for individual drones and swarms and can then neutralize the threat. The solution can be set up in about 5 minutes for deployment for military, government or commercial use.

When asked by a senior air-force official how the Citadel could adapt to evolving threats over time, Citadel CEO Christopher Williams said:

“We’ve attracted some of the world’s most talented engineers.  We are creating new and innovative solutions with deep learning, AI, and software-controlled hardware, that allow us to address new threats in weeks rather than months or years.  Our technology detected and defeated drones the system never saw before. Rapidly fielding this capability with unprecedented speed and agility advantages our warfighters.”

The company’s VP of Business Development, Matt England, added “Our Titan C-UAS system autonomously clears the warfighter’s airspace, allowing them to be unconcerned with threat drones and purely focused on the mission at hand.  It’s the quintessential force multiplier to protect servicemen and women while empowering their mission.”

The contract is Citadel’s seventh award in as many months. Recently, the company signed an agreement to provide the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency counter-drone measures in support of Special Operations Command requirements.

Across several sectors, companies and governments continue to deploy similar anti-drone defense systems:

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.