Nichols Martin
The Department of Defense and Israel’s defense ministry have jointly selected drone developer Xtend to provide a small unmanned aircraft system for use in remotely controlled operations.
The company said Tuesday its Skylord Xtender sUAS is designed to allow human operators to remotely support missions from distances far from risky environments.
The drone uses a human-centric machine interface technology to collect data, perform reconnaissance, safely escape dangerous places and function in both indoor and outdoor operations.
“Whether it’s a soldier scanning a building for enemy fighters, locating snipers, or providing [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] on a suspected enemy stronghold, our goal in developing this technology was to minimize the danger to human life,” said Matteo Shapira, co-founder of XTEND.
Deliveries, which commenced in 2020, provide prototypes of the Skylord Xtender platform to DOD’s tactical units for operational testing and evaluation activities.
