Arlington Capital Partners LLC-owned BlueHalo made its second mergers & acquisition move of the year Monday, purchasing San Diego-based counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) firm Citadel Defense Co.
Terms of the purchase weren’t disclosed, but the deal marks another acquisitive move for the Arlington-based technology and engineering contractor, which bought space electronic systems designer Design and Development Engineering Services Corp. (DDES) in July.
BlueHalo specializes in a range of defense industries, including space operations; directed energy applications; air & missile defense; Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) and others.
The addition of Citadel provides the company with a specialized capability that has become more integral to the modern battlefield, counter-drone operations. The San Diego company leverages emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to automate systems to better track and defend against potential UAS attacks.
BlueHalo executives said in a statement that Citadel Defense Co. will be folded into its directed energy and perimeter business, which uses laser and microwave technology to design weapons for Counter-UAS (C-UAS), Counter-Missile (CM), Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortar (C-RAM) and other operations.
“Citadel has established itself as a leader in the C-UAS market and continues to innovate at a pace necessary to stay ahead of the rapidly evolving threat environment,” said BlueHalo CEO Jonathan Moneymaker, in a statement. “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.”
Executives from Arlington Capital Partners weren’t immediately available for comment, but David Wodlinger, a partner at ACP, said in a statement that the pairing of BlueHalo and Citadel’s capabilities make the former a stronger presence in a burgeoning defense market.
“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,” he said.