Two U.S. Marines watching a small quadcopter overhead

DESTROY THE KILL CHAIN.

At the human, not the hardware.

Real-time RF targeting from any UAV.

TRL 8 Fielded on quadrotor platforms in active operational use TRL 6 US‑UAV stack integration · 6‑month path to TRL 7 with sponsor

RF Direction Finding

Passive sensor across a tunable 5–6 GHz window. No emissions. Detects drone-control links and active jammers in cluttered environments.

Operator-Level Targeting

Direction-of-arrival pushed to autopilot over MAVLink. Pilot sees a live bearing cue plus signal strength. Detection and targeting collapse into one motion.

Platform-Agnostic Integration

UART · MAVLink · ArduPilot. Group 1–3 UAV host or fiber-optic-tethered platform for RF-denied environments. ~200 g · <6 W.

System

Compact, UAV-integrated, passive.

Helicon's RF direction-finding payload integrates over UART/MAVLink with the autopilot stack of standard Group 1–3 UAVs. Passive front-end, on-board DSP, real-time bearing to source. The aircraft stays silent in the RF spectrum — there is nothing to triangulate against.

Frequency: 5–6 GHz tunable
Targets: Drone-control + active jammer emitters
Mass / Power: ~200 g · <6 W
Interface: UART · MAVLink / ArduPilot
Sensor: Passive — no emissions
Host platforms: Group 1–3 UAV · fiber-optic-tethered host

Marine operator with Group 2 fixed-wing UAS in field deployment — U.S. Marine Corps photo · representative Group 2 UAS host

U.S. Marines operating vehicle-mounted RF direction-finding equipment at Twentynine Palms

Deployment context

Vehicle-organic. Maneuver-organic. UAV-organic.

Designed to live where the maneuver unit lives. Standard Group 1–3 host overhead. Fiber-optic-tethered host for RF-denied environments. Vehicle-mast deployments where the airframe is the persistent layer above the ground vehicle.

Pictured: U.S. Marine Corps Radio Recon Operators Course, Twentynine Palms · April 2026 · LCpl. Theresa Lizarde, USMC.

Procurement posture

For acquisition program offices, primes, and qualified partners.

Engagement

Near-term (FY26): Seeking USMC / Army test partnership for UAV-integrated and vehicle-organic RF targeting evaluation, co-funded at sponsor facility.

Structural (FY27): SBIR Phase II / TACFI sponsor for full integration into US UAV stacks. Path to lower bands (1.5, 2.4 GHz).

Compliance & control

ITAR-aware. SAM.gov registration in process; CAGE pending. US-coordinated access through NuvoNexus, LLC. DoD acquisition framework aligned.

Capability brief Quad Chart · PDF Specifications One-Pager · PDF

Public-facing material only. Operational specifics and detection-range data are reserved for cleared discussion under appropriate authority.

Contact

Schedule a technical discussion.

Government program offices, primes, and qualified partners — reach out directly.

david@helicondefense.com

+1 321 350 6886