Ondas secures $6M in counter-drone orders for Middle East war
Ondas Inc. (ONDAS) said on Friday that it has received orders for dozens of its counter-drone systems from its current defense and homeland security customers in response to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East that began after the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran.
The latest orders, which include ones for Ondas' Sentrycs cyber-RF counter-UAS systems, total $6 million, the company said. Ondas said that the delivery of these systems "potentially serve as initial building blocks for broader counter-UAS programs, opening the way for larger systems of systems deployments incorporating additional Ondas technologies."
"The orders come amid escalating drone activity across the Middle East and other regions, where small unmanned aerial systems are increasingly used as part of current conflicts to target energy infrastructure, military bases, ports, and other strategic assets, accelerating demand for reliable counter-UAS technologies capable of detecting and safely mitigating hostile drones," the company said in a statement.
The Sentrycs Cyber-RF counter-UAS system detects, identifies, tracks and takes control of unauthorized drones using advanced protocol manipulation techniques, according to Ondas' description of the devices. The company notes that the Sentrycs system is designed to precisely target specific drones and safely redirect them away from protected zones or land them in designated areas.
This sets it apart from traditional "jamming-based" systems that risk disrupting surrounding communications.
Ondas' Sentrycs system is designed for rapid deployment and integration with existing detection infrastructures, which makes it suited for energy facilities, airports, military bases, borders and other critical infrastructure.
"There is strong demand and a growing urgency among governments to find scalable solutions for defending critical infrastructure and strategic assets," Ondas chairman and CEO Eric Brock said in a statement "Our cyber-RF counter-drone technology enables operators to detect, identify, and mitigate hostile drones at scale, in multiple locations 24/7, without disrupting surrounding communications.”
Ondas provides autonomous aerial and ground robot intelligence through its Ondas Autonomous Systems (OAS) business unit and private wireless solutions through its Ondas Networks unit.
"As drone threats continue to escalate globally, Ondas is expanding deployments of our counter-UAS technologies as part of a layered defense architecture designed to protect sensitive environments," Brock added.
ONDAS shares gained over 4% during early morning trading on Friday, but then closed down more than 6% as part of a wider selloff due to surprisingly weak US job data and the market disruption caused by the Middle East conflict.
The latest orders bring its total sales for March to $26 million. Earlier last week, Ondas subsidiary Airobotics Ltd. received a $20 million purchase order as part of a previously announced strategic national government tender to develop and deploy a multi-year autonomous border protection system.
The $26 million in sales so far this month comes after Ondas secured three new orders in the shortened month of February.
"Our goal is to provide operators with the most powerful and reliable counter-drone solutions available, enabling them to protect assets effectively,” Oshri Lugassy, Co-CEO of Ondas Autonomous Systems, said in a statement. “Our technologies are combat proven, ready for deployment and trusted by our customers as reflected by these orders.”