Ondas Acquires DZYNE Technologies for $875.8M, Launches Ondas Sentinel Autonomous Defense Division

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Ondas Inc. (Nasdaq: ONDS) announced on July 6, 2026 that it has completed the acquisition of DZYNE Technologies, LLC in a transaction valued at approximately $875.8 million. The deal was structured as a combination of cash and equity: DZYNE shareholders received $200 million in cash and approximately 85 million Ondas shares valued at roughly $675 million. More than half of the equity consideration — 45 million shares — is subject to a six-month lock-up period, leaving DZYNE's investors, led by majority shareholder Highlander Partners, with approximately 13.8% of Ondas' outstanding shares.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Irvine, California, DZYNE Technologies has spent over a decade building a portfolio of cost-disruptive autonomous defense systems spanning Group 1 through Group 5 UAS classifications, counter-UAS hardware, and autonomous logistics. The company operates from a 125,000-square-foot Irvine facility opened in 2024 that consolidates engineering, research, and manufacturing under one roof. DZYNE has also achieved Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 2.0 Level 2, placing it among the first 1,000 companies in the Defense Industrial Base to meet that benchmark — a credential that enables it to handle Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) across DoD programs.

The acquisition structurally adds three mission franchises to the Ondas platform: long-endurance ISR, a layered counter-UAS architecture, and autonomous effects. Ondas says DZYNE's capabilities are backed by more than $500 million in cumulative R&D and product development investment.

To house the combined portfolio, Ondas has created a new operating division called Ondas Sentinel. The division initially integrates DZYNE with World View — Ondas' stratospheric persistent-sensing subsidiary — creating an ISR architecture spanning from the stratosphere down to the tactical edge. Ryan Hartman, currently CEO of World View, will lead Ondas Sentinel as its CEO. Matt McCue, co-founder and CEO of DZYNE, transitions to Chief Technology Officer of the new division. The two will share technology roadmaps, manufacturing resources, sustainment infrastructure, and AI-enabled mission software.

Underpinning the division's mission software layer is SkyWeaver, an AI-enabled operating system being co-developed with Palantir Technologies and built on Palantir Foundry and AIP. SkyWeaver is designed to connect sensors, autonomous platforms, operators, and commanders across a single operational environment, fusing data from the combined Ondas and DZYNE portfolios into decision-support and autonomous-tasking workflows.

Prior to this deal, Ondas had already closed the Omnisys acquisition on May 21, 2026, and separately announced the pending acquisition of Cyberhawk, expected to close in Q3 2026. Those deals, combined with DZYNE, have prompted Ondas to revise its full-year 2026 revenue target upward to at least $525 million, from a prior target of at least $390 million. The Cyberhawk contribution is not yet included in that revised figure.

For DZYNE specifically, Ondas projects $191 million in revenue for full-year 2026, growing to more than $300 million in 2027, with an anticipated revenue CAGR exceeding 80% from 2025 through 2028. The company is expected to be EBITDA positive in 2026 and beyond, with EBITDA margins targeted in the mid-teens in 2027 rising to the mid-20% range by 2028.

As part of the acquisition close, Ondas also approved inducement grants of restricted stock units covering 500,000 shares and stock options for 1,500,000 shares at an exercise price of $7.92 per share to 255 newly hired employees, with awards vesting over three years. Citizens Capital Markets & Advisory served as financial advisor to Ondas; Baird advised DZYNE. Akerman LLP acted as Ondas' legal counsel, while Baker McKenzie represented Highlander Partners and DZYNE.

Technical Breakdown

ULTRA / ULTRA Turbo (Group 5 Long-Endurance ISR)

• UAS Class: Group 5
• Endurance: 70+ hours (ULTRA); upgraded turbocharged variant (ULTRA Turbo) validated at altitudes above 25,000 feet
• Payload: Over 400 lbs
• Propulsion: Piston engine (ULTRA); turbocharged engine (ULTRA Turbo), first flight validated at Duke Field, Eglin Air Force Base
• Sensors / Comms: GPS-hardened; satellite-based C2 with high-rate ISR data feed; redundant LOS and BLOS comms suite; proliferated Low Earth Orbit (pLEO) SATCOM integrated on ULTRA Turbo
• Autonomy: Autonomous takeoff and landing; "point and click" navigation; GPS-denied operational capability
• Mission sets: Multi-INT ISR, communications relay, border and maritime surveillance, environmental monitoring
• Program status: AFRL Center for Rapid Innovation (CRI) contract awarded April 2026 for three additional ULTRA Turbo aircraft; transitioning toward a program of record

LEAP (Group 5 ISR — purpose-built)

• Long-endurance, purpose-built ISR-focused platform complementing ULTRA within DZYNE's Group 5 portfolio

Blitz (Group 1 Autonomous UAS — Expendable)

• UAS Class: Group 1
• Range: 150 km
• Architecture: Open, modular; swarm-capable; expendable economics
• Autonomy: Long-range autonomous operation
• Mission sets: Autonomous effects, precision strike, reconnaissance

Grasshopper Autonomous Cargo Glider

• Payload capacity: Up to 500 lbs
• Propulsion (Long-Range variant): Turbine engine
• Mission sets: Contested logistics, precision delivery into denied environments
• Status: Long-Range Grasshopper test flight completed; turbine integration validated

IonStrike (Kinetic Counter-UAS Interceptor)

• Type: Fully autonomous kinetic interceptor
• Function: Detect, track, and physically defeat hostile UAS in flight
• Design target: Shahed-136-class one-way attack drones and analogous threats
• Role in layered architecture: Defeat layer (autonomous strike)

Dronebuster (Handheld Counter-UAS)

• Portable detection, tracking, identification, and mitigation (DTIM) system
• Electronic defeat capability; described as among the most widely fielded handheld C-UAS tools in the world

Layered Counter-UAS Architecture (Combined Ondas + DZYNE)

• Detect/Identify: Sentrycs protocol analytics, sensor fusion, AI-enabled classification; Dronebuster DTIM
• Mitigate: Sentrycs cyber takeover; Dronebuster electronic defeat
• Defeat: Iron Drone autonomous net interception; IonStrike autonomous kinetic strike

Manufacturing & Compliance Credentials

• 125,000 sq ft integrated engineering, R&D, and manufacturing facility in Irvine, California (opened 2024)
• CMMC 2.0 Level 2 certified — among the first 1,000 DIB companies to achieve this level; fulfills 110 security practices under NIST SP 800-171 for handling Controlled Unclassified Information

Industry Impact

For Platform Integrators and System Architects The Ondas Sentinel structure represents one of the more complete vertical stacks assembled in the U.S. autonomous defense market to date — spanning persistent stratospheric sensing (World View), long-endurance theater ISR (ULTRA/LEAP), tactical-edge drone reconnaissance (Optimus), ground sensor networks (InsightSense), a four-layer counter-UAS kill chain, expendable Group 1 UAS (Blitz), and contested logistics (Grasshopper), all tied through a shared AI mission OS (SkyWeaver/Palantir). For defense integrators evaluating prime or sub-contract opportunities, the single-vendor pitch from Ondas Sentinel covers more of the ISR-to-effects mission chain than most individual programs can assemble.

For Counter-UAS Vendors and Competitors The absorption of Dronebuster — one of the most widely deployed handheld C-UAS tools — alongside IonStrike's kinetic intercept capability and Sentrycs' cyber-defeat technology under a consolidated balance sheet gives Ondas Sentinel pricing leverage and contract bundling capability that standalone C-UAS vendors will need to address. The FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act's expansion of C-UAS authorities to State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial (SLTT) agencies further broadens the addressable market for this layered architecture beyond purely federal defense buyers.

For Investors and Capital Markets Ondas has committed to an aggressive revenue ramp: at least $525 million for 2026 (up 35% from prior guidance), and a DZYNE-driven CAGR above 80% through 2028, with the Cyberhawk contribution still to be added. DZYNE is expected to be EBITDA positive in 2026, providing the combined entity with an improving margin profile as the business scales. The 45-million-share lock-up signals alignment from Highlander Partners, though the overall equity-heavy deal structure means dilution will be a key metric for existing Ondas shareholders to track. The June 2026 quarter alone saw Ondas book over $150 million in new defense orders, including more than $40 million in the final weeks of the month.

For Operators and Defense Procurement Officers The SkyWeaver–Palantir integration is the most consequential long-term variable to watch. Built on Palantir Foundry and AIP, SkyWeaver is intended to transform multi-sensor data from across the Ondas-DZYNE portfolio into actionable intelligence and autonomous tasking. If the platform matures as described, procurement officers could access a single contractual vehicle for a detect-through-defeat capability set that currently requires multiple vendors and integration contracts. DZYNE's existing AFRL program of record momentum with ULTRA Turbo, and its CMMC 2.0 Level 2 certification, reduce near-term contracting friction.

For Regulators The consolidation of handheld C-UAS tools (Dronebuster), electronic mitigation (Sentrycs), and kinetic intercept (IonStrike) into a single corporate entity may attract scrutiny from DoD procurement offices monitoring single-source dependencies within critical C-UAS supply chains — particularly for programs where Dronebuster is already a fielded standard.