Press Releases
Our Mission is to help the warfighter better maneuver across the battlefield, when they need to. We accomplish this mission by being a trusted partner with our customers when it comes to drone defense. Whether it is our kinetic kill solution, Bullfrog, or another partner solution, we are the first call our customers make when they need to defeat drones.
Allen Control Systems Demonstrates Counter-Drone Robotic Gun System at U.S. Defense Department Technology Readiness Experimentation 2024 (T-REX 24-2) Event
Austin, Texas, – May 29, 2024 – Allen Control Systems (ACS), a defense technology company developing counter-drone robotic gun systems, today announced that it has been invited to participate in the U.S. Defense Department’s Technology Readiness Experimentation 2024 (T-REX 24-2), the premier event for assessing and fast-tracking new technologies that the DoD considers critical for warfighting efforts.
Low cost, lethal, and increasingly autonomous drones are being deployed in large numbers by enemy forces around the world. Recent advances in drone technology have made them more resilient to radio frequency (RF) jamming technology which enables them to complete deadly missions. The only reliable way to disable autonomous enemy drones is through kinetic defeat solutions that physically damage or destroy them. Until now, this required expensive missiles. ACS will demonstrate a new, highly accurate, cost-effective kinetic defeat solution at T-REX 24-2.
ACS’s BullfrogTM robotic gun system brings together cutting-edge software, computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI) with the M240 machine gun to neutralize large numbers of lethal drones at higher effectiveness and much lower cost than any solution available today.
“Bullfrog™ is a step change in capability,” said Steve Simoni, co-founder and CEO of ACS. “As the only kinetic defeat solution at T-REX 24-2, we’re looking forward to demonstrating how our counter-drone robotic gun system addresses the threat from low-flying, cheap drones that have changed the battlefield.”
T-REX 24-2, hosted by the DoD and the Indiana National Guard, is a critical demonstration and evaluation platform for advanced military technologies. T-REX 24-2, happening from Aug. 19 to 26 at Camp Atterbury, Ind., is a component of the DoD’s Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve (RDER), a process to incentivize experimentation of military technologies and accelerate the path from concept to the field.
About Allen Control Systems
Allen Control Systems (ACS) is a defense technology company building counter-drone robotic gun systems for a new era of drone warfare and to completely change battlefield economics. ACS was founded by Steven Simoni, Luke Allen, and Mike Wior. Simoni and Allen are former U.S. Navy nuclear engineers who met in the service. Both were instrumentation and control systems engineers for Navy nuclear reactors. Their backgrounds span robotics, computer vision, machine learning, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and computer science. ACS is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with offices in Alexandria, Va. For more information, please visit https://www.allencontrolsystems.com/ and follow us on LinkedIn and X.
Defense Technology Company, Allen Control Systems, Raises $12 Million Seed Capital to Build Counter-Drone Robotic Gun Systems
Austin, Texas, April 18, 2024 – Allen Control Systems (ACS), a defense technology company, today announced it has raised $12 million in seed capital led by Craft Ventures with participation from Forum Ventures and Rally Ventures. ACS is developing counter-drone robotic gun systems.
Low cost, lethal, and increasingly autonomous drones are being deployed in large numbers by enemy forces around the world. Radio jamming can stop many off-the-shelf commercial drones, but autonomous military drones are designed to continue their missions even when their radios are jammed. The only way to disable military drones is to physically damage them but up until now, that required expensive missiles. ACS is developing novel technology capable of neutralizing large numbers of lethal drones at a much lower cost than any solution available today.
ACS was founded by CEO Steven Simoni, CTO Luke Allen, and COO Mike Wior. Simoni and Allen are former U.S. Navy nuclear engineers who met in the service. Both were instrumentation and control systems engineers for Navy nuclear reactors. Their backgrounds span robotics, computer vision, machine learning, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and computer science. After serving in the Navy, Simoni and Allen founded Bbot, a software and robotics restaurant technology startup, where they met Mike Wior, CEO and co-founder of Omnivore, a restaurant POS transaction system. Simoni and Allen’s company was acquired by DoorDash in 2022, and Wior’s company was acquired by Olo in the same year.
“We are at a military disadvantage with our biggest rival. ACS was created to neutralize the threat of Chinese drone manufacturing dominance,” said Simoni. “DJI, the Shenzhen-based manufacturer, commands over 70% of the world’s drone market and makes a new drone every few seconds. With respect to drones, any serious dual-use mandate from our Government is about 20 years too late.”
“ACS’s products are designed with an assumption that military drones will be numerous and will be hardened against radio jamming and other long-range non-kinetic attempts at stopping them,” said Allen. “But drones can’t carry sufficient armor to stop a bullet. The downside of bullets is that aiming a gun with sufficient precision to hit a small drone is almost impossible. We understand how hard that problem is, and we believe we’re well-positioned to solve it.”
About Allen Control Systems
Allen Control Systems is a defense technology company building counter-drone robotic gun systems for a new era of drone warfare and to completely change battlefield economics. ACS is headquartered in Austin, Texas with offices in Alexandria, Virginia. For more information, please visit https://www.allencontrolsystems.com/ and follow us on X and LinkedIn.
