Israeli startup XTEND, a provider of tactical drones for defense, national security, public safety, and industrial inspection markets, has contracted with the US Department of Defense on a small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) called SKYLORD XTENDER, the company announced Tuesday.
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According to XTNED, its SKYLORD XTENDER provides a "unique, human-centric 'machine interface technology' that enables operators and first responders to remotely intervene in dangerous situations, from a safe distance, via drone by virtually 'sitting inside' the small sUAS."
The technology is designed to reduce human interaction with dangerous environments.
The SKYLORD XTENDER platform allows any operator with little or no flight experience to perform specific remote tasks in complex environments. In addition, the company reports that its sUAS is capable of approaching a target site from any location, performing recon and data collection tasks with extreme accuracy, and seamlessly exit the danger zones, agnostic of any indoor-outdoor transition limitations.
Aviv Shapira, XTEND co-founder and CEO, explained that "Hyper enabled drones are the future of engagement for dangerous situation worldwide. The IDF has recognized XTEND's family of products called SKYLORD as one of the most effective technologies for urban warfare missions, specifically indoor and close-quarters combat.
"The SKYLORD XTENDER is one of our most advanced drone platforms and harnessing it under this initiative will help the US Department of Defense save lives and ensure mission success in any combat scenario," Shapira added.
Company co-founder Matteo Shapira said that the SKYLORD XTENDER platform was "so intuitive" that users could be trained to operate it in under an hour.
"Whether it's a soldier scanning a building for enemy fighters, locating snipers, or providing ISR on a suspected enemy stronghold, our goal in developing this technology was to minimize the danger to human life," Matteo said. "No matter the operator or situation, when you use our extended VR technology, you can rest assured that even the most dangerous missions are as safe as possible."
The US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations / Low Intensity Conflict (ASD SO/LIC) and Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate (IWTSD) has partnered with Israel's Defense Minister and Directorate of Defense Research & Development to contract with XTEND to deliver multiple, tactical sUAS platform prototypes to the tactical units for Operational Testing and Evaluation (OT&E) starting this year.
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