Liberty's Gambit: Outsourcing Support to Scale Security Tech

WILMINGTON, Mass. – November 24, 2025 – In a move that signals a sharp focus on scalable growth, AI-based threat detection firm Liberty Defense has forged a strategic partnership with Noble IQ, a specialized service provider. The deal tasks Noble IQ with the nationwide installation, training, and lifecycle support for Liberty's flagship HEXWAVE™ screening system, a critical step aimed at accelerating its market adoption across the United States.

While partnerships for field service are common, this alliance is particularly telling. It reveals a calculated strategy by Liberty Defense to overcome the significant logistical and capital hurdles that often stifle technology hardware companies, especially those navigating challenging financial waters. By outsourcing its entire deployment and support infrastructure, Liberty is making a clear bet: its core value lies in its proprietary AI and detection technology, not in managing a fleet of service technicians.

Beyond the Box: The Critical Role of Service Infrastructure

At the heart of this deal is the HEXWAVE™ system, a next-generation walkthrough screener born from technology exclusively licensed from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The system employs AI and active 3D radar imaging to detect a broad range of concealed threats, from traditional firearms to non-metallic items like 3D-printed guns and plastic explosives. Its key selling point is a seamless experience, allowing individuals to pass through without divesting common items, all while maintaining what the company reports as an exceptionally low false alarm rate.

However, for customers in mission-critical environments like airports, stadiums, and schools, the most advanced technology is only as good as its reliability. Downtime is not an option. This is where the partnership with Noble IQ becomes pivotal. Noble IQ, with its stated background supporting U.S. military, homeland security, and first responder clients, is positioned to provide the robust support framework that instills customer confidence. The agreement includes not only professional installation and user training but also a 24/7 call center for technical support.

“Ensuring that HEXWAVE systems are supported by professional installation, training, service, and round-the-clock technical support is essential to our growth strategy,” said Bill Frain, CEO of Liberty Defense, in the official announcement. This sentiment was echoed by Jon Terpening, a Vice President at Noble IQ, who emphasized that their "proven track record... ensures that HEXWAVE deployments will be backed by reliable service." This move transforms the HEXWAVE from a standalone product into a fully supported security solution, a crucial distinction in a market where buyers are purchasing operational assurance, not just hardware.

A Strategic Blueprint for Growth Amid Financial Headwinds

The strategic brilliance of this partnership becomes clearer when viewed against Liberty Defense's financial backdrop. The company, while securing promising initial orders—including a significant sale to a major US international airport and a 30-unit agreement with security leader Viken Detection—has been operating under considerable financial pressure. For the six months ending June 30, 2025, the company reported a net loss of $7.54 million and a working capital deficiency of $4.45 million, highlighting a high cash burn rate.

In this context, the decision to outsource support is not just an operational choice; it's a financial masterstroke. Building a national service network from scratch would require immense capital investment in hiring, training, vehicles, and logistics—capital that Liberty evidently needs to allocate elsewhere, namely toward production scaling and continued R&D. By partnering with Noble IQ, Liberty adopts a more variable, asset-light cost model. It effectively converts the heavy fixed costs of a service division into a more manageable operational expense tied to successful deployments, allowing the company to scale its customer-facing capabilities in lockstep with its sales growth. This maneuver allows Liberty to project the image and deliver the service of a much larger, more established player without the corresponding balance sheet strain.

This strategy is vital for capitalizing on a burgeoning market. The global threat detection systems market is projected to grow at a double-digit CAGR, potentially exceeding $500 billion by the early 2030s, fueled by rising security concerns and government initiatives like the Department of Homeland Security's $1 billion plan to modernize TSA infrastructure. For Liberty to capture a meaningful share of this expansion, it must be able to deploy its systems quickly and reliably, a capacity this partnership is explicitly designed to provide.

The Partner Puzzle and the Competitive Landscape

The choice of Noble IQ is itself an interesting piece of the strategic puzzle. The Lexington, Kentucky-based firm maintains a low public profile, a characteristic common among specialized contractors serving sensitive government and defense clients. This lack of a broad commercial footprint suggests a focus on expertise and discretion over public marketing. For Liberty Defense, aligning with a partner that brings credibility from the demanding homeland security sector provides a powerful endorsement of its technology's seriousness and reliability.

This move also sharpens Liberty’s competitive edge. The threat detection market is crowded with established giants like Smiths Detection and Rapiscan Systems, companies that already possess extensive global service networks. For a smaller innovator like Liberty, competing on technology alone is not enough. The ability to offer a comparable, if not superior, level of nationwide, 24/7 support through a credible partner effectively neutralizes a key advantage of its larger rivals. It allows the sales conversation to shift from logistical concerns back to HEXWAVE's core technological differentiators: its AI-driven analytics, dual-spectrum detection, and superior user experience.

As the security technology landscape evolves, the line between product and service continues to blur. The most successful firms will be those that understand that customers are buying a continuous state of security, not a one-time installation. This partnership demonstrates that Liberty Defense understands this shift intimately, structuring its operations not just to sell a better mousetrap, but to deliver a comprehensive and reliable pest control service. In tandem with its strategic moves, the company also issued a minor administrative update, amending the record date for its upcoming annual general meeting on December 12, 2025, to shareholders of record as of November 6, 2025.