West Palm Beach-Based Ondas Rapidly Expands Global Autonomous and Defense Technology Platform
On Aug. 18, Ondas Inc., a leading provider of dual-use autonomous systems for defense, public safety, and critical infrastructure, announced the acquisition of Aran Defense for approximately $33 million. Aran Defense is a division of the Israeli engineering and manufacturing company Aran Ltd. and will help Ondas build more of its own technology.
What is notable right now is how quickly Ondas is expanding. Aran Defense is only the latest acquisition in a period of aggressive expansion for Ondas, which includes Rotron Aerospace, Cyberhawk, and more than a dozen other companies since August 2025. With the additional services and capabilities that the new acquisitions have enabled for Ondas, Aran will give the company the ability to actually develop more of this technology.
“Aran Defense will provide us with an established production platform in Israel that can support multiple Ondas businesses and programs, allowing us to industrialize products faster, increase manufacturing scale and respond more efficiently to customer requirements,” shared Eric Brock, Ondas Chairman and CEO. “This is another important step in building Ondas into a vertically integrated defense technology company with the capabilities not only to develop differentiated technologies, but to manufacture and deliver them at scale.”
Defense-Tech Continues to Strengthen in South Florida
With its corporate headquarters in West Palm, Ondas continues to contribute to the growing defense corridor in South Florida. Ondas has primarily been acquiring businesses that enhance its autonomous-technology ecosystem, including drones, counter-drone systems, intelligence, surveillance, battlefield software, and infrastructure inspection.
The addition of manufacturing with Aran Defense brings together the full-service capability of developing and operating air, ground, and atmospheric environments. Ondas’s drone technology, artificial intelligence, and mission-critical networks also complement other defense and technology companies that facilitate defense technology.
As more companies like Ondas and Blue Ops join other South Florida companies that focus on drone technology like FPL and other defense capabilities, investors are taking notice.
The command base of SOUTHCOM in the City of Doral also gives direct access to the defense sector from a military perspective. The Department of War’s Golden Dome program positions South Florida to continue its development as a defense tech hub.
Ondas Taps David Barnea for Global Defense Strategy
In addition to the acquisition of Aran Defense, Ondas is making other strategic moves as well. To add to Chairman and CEO Eric Brock’s leadership team, Ondas named David Barnea as the new Global President and Chairman of Ondas Defense.
As Director of Mossad from 2021 through June 2026, Barnea is charged with taking his extensive defense and intelligence experience to develop strategic relationships within government and defense, expand the company on a global scale, and integrate the growing portfolio to accomplish the company’s vision.
Mossad is known for being one of the world’s best-known intelligence agencies. Ondas’s ability to recruit Barnea further signals the advanced defense technology happening in the region. Barnea led Mossad during its transition from peacetime to active combat and understands how to take existing technology and find immediate use against threats.
Looking to the future, Ondas plans to organize its defense strategy around four areas under Barnea’s leadership:
Aerial Security
ISR & Persistent Intelligence
Precision Strike
Autonomous Ground Systems
Barnea’s role extends beyond international business development. His mandate will integrate Ondas's latest collection of companies and technologies into a unified defense platform. With the addition of Ondas’s acquisitions over the last year, the challenge will be bringing those companies together.
Ondas is working toward what it describes as a unified, AI-enabled, multi-domain defense platform capable of connecting intelligence, communications, autonomous systems, and operational decision-making. Barnea’s experience will allow him to focus on these efforts under the company’s current direction, with a geographic focus on Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Barnea’s appointment and the Aran Defense acquisition signify Ondas’s desire to bring the companies that it has gained over the last year under a leader who can unite them and bring Ondas to even greater heights.
From West Palm Beach to a Global Defense Technology Platform
Ondas’s investment in South Florida is more than just a corporate mailing address. On July 24, RSE Ventures and Ondas announced a co-led strategic investment in FPF Defense, a counter-drone startup that builds low-cost, high-volume kinetic interceptors to destroy mass-produced attack drones.
After the investment, FPF Defense is now relocating its headquarters and building infrastructure within West Palm Beach. This move further adds to South Florida’s profile for defense technology as Ondas also relocated its Boston headquarters to South Florida in March 2025.
As Ondas continues to land major defense business, acquire companies from around the world, and purchase international technology, the South Florida ecosystem is quickly becoming a command point for the international defense-tech platform.
In addition to FPF Defense, Ondas announced on August 5 that its U.S.-based defense prime contractor, Mistral Inc., received a $50 million order from the U.S. Army for tactical Lethal Unmanned Systems (LUS). The order was issued under a previously awarded $982 million multi-year Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract supporting the U.S. Army’s Lethal Unmanned Systems (LUS) program, bringing Mistral’s total awards under the program to more than $240 million.
Together, the developments illustrate the scale of the defense technology operation Ondas is building from its West Palm Beach headquarters. The company is acquiring technology and manufacturing capabilities internationally, bringing in senior global defense leadership, and competing for some of the U.S. military's largest unmanned systems programs.
As Ondas continues to scale its global defense portfolio from West Palm Beach, its rapid growth is also helping position South Florida as an emerging center for defense technology and autonomous systems.
West Palm Beach-based Ondas is rapidly building a global defense technology platform through acquisitions, investments, and strategic leadership appointments. The company’s $33 million acquisition of Aran Defense adds manufacturing capabilities to its growing autonomous systems portfolio. Former Mossad Director David Barnea is also joining Ondas to lead its global defense strategy. Meanwhile, investments in companies such as FPF Defense and major military contracts are expanding Ondas’ footprint. The company’s growth is further positioning South Florida as an emerging hub for defense and autonomous technology.