I found an old BRN recommendation from a company called Ipsolon Research who designed high-performance, ultra-small form factor Software Defined Radios (SDRs) for mission-critical environments.
The recommendation was signed off by John Shanton, CEO.
I remembered seeing his name on the Brainchip website.
Sure enough Under the heading " What Innovators are saying" appears BlueHalo, signed by
"John Shanton, CEO at
Ipsolon Research" See acquisition trail below in table format with links.
BlueHlao acquired Ipsolon and retained John Shanton.
Subsequently BlueHalo was acquired by AeroVironment for $4.1 bill.
See acquisition table below with links.
AeroVironment is a U.S. defense technology company
best known for its unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) like the Raven, Puma, and Switchblade drones. It also develops loitering munitions, counter‑UAS systems, robotics, and high‑altitude platforms.
AeroVironment is huge in Drones.
From the recent AuzxBiz video interview with Sean:
" So the verticals that resonate the most currently are defense. And a lot of things are going on in defense that cause that defense because
mobility drones, mobile defense activity with
soldiers with communications on their back. So a lot of defense activity, particularly around electronic warfare and drone activity and radar.
So the ability to put radar in a drone, which you couldn't do with old traditional technology, it's resonating very, very well there"
and...... " . And we're in serious engagements going through evaluations on both generations. Right now we've got chips available. We have a strong demand signal from that or we wouldn't have built that chip. So we expect revenue to flow from both of those primary revenue streams"
Looks like an NDA. There is no way Parsons, Bascom Hunter and Lockheed-Martin are 'lone rangers' with Brainchip.
Acquisition Trail with Links
| Step | Date | Acquirer | Target | Reason for Acquisition | What Target Does |
|---|
1. BlueHalo acquires Ipsolon Research
BlueHalo Acquires Leading SDR Provider Ipsolon Research, Strengthening Next-Generation Defense Technology Platform | BlueHalo | Nov 29, 2023 | BlueHalo | Ipsolon Research | To bring Software Defined Radio (SDR)capabilities in-house, strengthening BlueHalo’s portfolio in space, air, and cyber defense. | Ipsolon designs ultra-small form factor SDRs(Cerberus, Chameleon) for secure communications, electronic warfare, spectrum monitoring, AESA radar, and 5G base stations. |
2. AeroVironment acquires BlueHalo
AeroVironment and BlueHalo Complete Transaction — Creating A Global Defense Technology | Announced Nov 19, 2024; Completed May 1, 2025 | AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) | BlueHalo | To diversify beyond drones into multi-domain defense technologies(space, missile defense, cyber, directed energy). Strengthens AeroVironment against larger defense primes. | BlueHalo develops space systems, directed energy weapons, missile defense, cyber/AI solutions, and C4ISR pla |