BlueHalo acquires counter-unmanned aircraft tech maker

National security technology integrator BlueHalo has acquired Citadel Defense Company, a developer of products for government agencies to use in countering unmanned aircraft flown by adversaries and other potentially threatening sources.

Terms of the transaction announced Monday were undisclosed, but BlueHalo said it sought to complement its directed energy and layered perimeter defense offerings with Citadel’s automation driven-products.

More specifically, Citadel designs its counter-unmanned aerial systems tools to incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms in order to locate the aircraft and ensure it is not a threat.

The company also built its products to defend against groups of unmanned aircraft flying together or those that are difficult to detect, the company says.

Founded in 2016, San Diego-headquartered Citadel also touts federal civilian agencies as among its customers in addition to those in the defense and intelligence communities.

BlueHalo is backed by private equity firm Arlington Capital Partners and is centered around a strategy to focus on the technologies they see as transforming modern warfare, including but not limited to space superiority and directed energy.

The acquisition of Citadel is merely the latest such move for BlueHalo, which unveiled itself to the market in October 2020. BlueHalo's other purchases have included Base2, Fortego, Design and Development Engineering Services Corp. and Intelligent Automation Inc.

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter, and Hampton served as legal counsel to BlueHalo.  Duff and Phelps Securities served as financial adviser to Citadel with Winston and Strawn as the selling company’s legal counsel.