The Israeli Ministry of Defense has awarded drone developer XTEND a $20-million contract to develop and provide a multi-drone operating system.
The agreement will see the company’s XTEND Operating System (XOS) — a human-guided autonomous operating system — enable operators to control dozens of drones simultaneously.
Work will be conducted in partnership with the Israeli Directorate of Defense Research & Development (MAFAT) based on performance and deliverable milestones.
“XTEND’s deep collaboration with MAFAT in recent years has already been operationally proven time and again, reducing the risk to operators and providing them with best of breed technology to give them an operational edge,” XTEND Business Development and Sales Vice President Ido Bar-On said.
“XTEND and the Ministry of Defense are working to secure the cooperation of other ally countries in this development program.”
‘Best Technology’ for Soldiers
XOS is equipped with edge processing, artificial intelligence technology, and virtual reality for users to operate drone capabilities safely and effectively.
According to XTEND, the XOS will serve as more than an “eye in the sky” for the military and be compatible with third-party applications to ensure warfighters are out of danger.
“Working with XTEND over the last three years, we have already been able to field systems that are now in daily use, and we are confident that this new program will provide a tremendous leap in our operational capabilities,” a source from the Israeli Defence Forces stated.
“Putting the best of civilian technology into the hands of our soldiers. One of the greatest challenges for a program office working with cutting-edge technologies is to find the right industry partners. Along with very few other vendors, we see XTEND as such a partner.”