Allen Control Systems and CX2 partner to pair Bullfrog weapon station with RF sensing and electronic warfare

TLDR

• Allen Control Systems and CX2 announced a partnership on 30 October to combine Bullfrog with RF sensing and electronic warfare.¹²
• The companies say the layered approach avoids relying only on expensive interceptors.¹²
• dronenr reports no contract, customer or pricing has been announced for the combined offering.²

Allen Control Systems (ACS), an Austin, Texas robotics company, and CX2, an El Segundo, California electronic warfare and radio frequency (RF) sensing company, announced a strategic partnership on 30 October to develop integrated counter-drone capabilities for the United States and its allies.¹ The companies say the work will cover mobile, expeditionary, fixed-site and maritime operations and aims at layered defence "without relying exclusively on expensive interceptors."¹

ACS's Bullfrog is an autonomous weapon station that, according to the companies, uses computer vision, autonomous control and precision robotics to turn existing weapon systems into counter-drone systems; dronenr says that includes the standard M240 machine gun.¹² CX2's systems detect, classify and geolocate RF emissions, provide targeting information and enable electronic disruption, according to the release, and dronenr adds that the company has also developed Wraith, a Group 2 airborne electronic warfare platform, and Vadris, an RF-seeking payload for FPV drones.¹² Both companies' technologies are in the Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401) C-UAS Marketplace, a Department of Defense initiative to speed up counter-drone procurement and fielding.¹²

ACS co-founder Steven Simoni said he and CX2 chief executive Porter Smith will spend the next several months showing how electronic warfare, rockets and autonomous weapon stations can work together through unified command-and-control software on unmanned ground vehicles.¹ Smith said the goal is to "move beyond standalone capabilities and deliver integrated, operationally ready solutions."¹ dronenr reports that no contract, customer or pricing has been announced and that there is no detail on when the joint system will be demonstrated or who will buy it first.²

Why it matters: the partnership pairs RF detection and jamming with a gun-based weapon station as an alternative to relying only on interceptors, but the announcement is a company statement, dronenr's coverage draws on it, and no customer, contract or demonstration date has been announced.¹²