US Air Force Awards Citadel Defense Contract to Counter Swarms Following Saudi Arabia Oil Attack
Drone threats, including the attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil assets this weekend, have escalated at unprecedented speed and global scale. The United States Air Force (USAF) has tapped into commercial innovation from Citadel Defense Company to protect warfighters and high-value assets from drone threats.
The U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security extensively validated Citadel’s counter-drone technology over 18 months – determining that the company’s ability to detect, identify, and defeat drone threats is operationally effective across many mission environments.
Citadel’s CEO, Christopher Williams, explained how requirements from warfighters, leadership, and policy makers were incorporated into the Titan CUAS system. “Feedback from 200+ stakeholders uncovered unmet needs that existing CUAS offerings did not address. The solution must be capable of complete autonomous operation. It must be easy to use with setup and takedown in minutes, not hours. It must not require signal expertise or calibration to operate. And it must be able to detect and defeat drones without disrupting tactical communications. We built Titan to address those needs.”
Citadel’s artificial intelligence and targeted jamming capability forces drones to safely land before they can become a threat. Protecting the airspace while minimizing disruption or interference to surrounding equipment gives operators mission flexibility that never existed before.
Williams emphasized how military, government and commercial customers benefit from the award. “USAF’s award highlights the advantages of a system that quickly adapts to new threats operating on common (2.4 GHz, 5.8 GHz) and hobbyist (433 MHz, 915 MHz, 1.2 GHz) communication links. Citadel customers, today and in the future, will be able to connect multiple Titan units to a secure network and expand their perimeter of protection across >95% of commercially available drone threat profiles.”
Under AFWERX’s contract, Citadel is eligible for Sole Source Awards and Rapid Acquisition from any U.S. Government agency to respond to urgent warfighter requirements.
