Israel's Ministry of Defense has awarded Ondas Inc. a strategic multi-million-dollar tender under a new program called "Digital Bat" to design and produce the country's next generation of low-cost tactical attack drones for the Israel Defense Forces, edging out Elbit Systems and Rafael in a tightly contested competition. The West Palm Beach-based Nasdaq-listed defense technology company said the award covers the aerial platform, autonomous functionality, mission software, systems integration, production readiness, and integration with wider command-and-control environments.
Cheap, mass-producible strike drones
Under Digital Bat, Ondas will lead development of a new class of low-cost tactical strike drones aimed at frontline combat units, letting Israeli commanders deploy the systems in volume and adapt them to fast-changing operational needs. The company framed the win as validation of a broader shift in modern military procurement toward affordable, software-defined autonomous platforms that can be fielded in numbers, echoing the U.S. Drone Dominance Program, a $1.1 billion Pentagon initiative focused on cheap one-way attack drones.
Part of a widening Ondas defense platform
The Israeli award slots into Ondas' four-mission-area autonomous defense platform spanning air defense and counter-UAS, aerial ISR, aerial attack, and unmanned ground systems, connected by AI-powered command and mission-management software. It follows a rapid string of recent Ondas moves, including the $875.8 million acquisition of DZYNE Technologies to anchor the new Ondas Sentinel defense unit, the $196.6 million all-stock deal for Israel's Omnisys, and the unveiling of the MODUS counter-drone platform and IRON WAVE robot combat suite at Eurosatory.
What the deal signals
Digital Bat gives Ondas a prime-contractor role on one of the most technologically demanding customers in the world — Israel's MoD — and a template it can pitch to the U.S. Army, U.S. Special Operations Command, and other allied buyers now racing to stand up their own attritable strike-drone programs. "This program reflects operational priorities we are seeing across allied markets," CEO Eric Brock said, arguing that Israel, the United States, and NATO partners are converging on the same doctrine of scalable, mission-software-defined aerial precision.
Reporting based on coverage from Ondas Investor Relations, ACCESS Newswire, and The Jerusalem Post.