LandEuro 2025: Xtend’s Honey Badger drone uses artificial intelligence to fly into buildings and find hidden threats.

At the LandEuro 2025 defense exhibition, the Israeli company Xtend Defense presented the Honey Badger, a compact multi-mission unmanned aerial system (UAS) intended for both indoor and outdoor use. The drone was designed to perform tactical missions in constrained environments, including areas without GPS access and under electronic warfare conditions. It integrates autonomous capabilities with human control, relying on XTEND’s AI-supported XOS software. Its structure is based on combat and operational feedback from previous deployments.
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The Honey Badger is one of the latest offers in Xtend’s evolving portfolio of tactical drones, meeting a growing demand among NATO and allied forces for lightweight, adaptable reconnaissance platforms suitable for denied and urban areas. (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The Honey Badger has a frame size of 85.1 cm in length, 70.1 cm in width, and 25.1 cm in height. Its rotor diameter is 35.6 cm. The airframe weighs 4 kg without payload and supports a maximum payload weight of 3 kg. Flight time reaches up to 35 minutes without payload and 18 minutes with payload. The drone can fly at speeds up to 70 km/h, with gust endurance rated at 27.8 km/h. It is equipped with a 2-axis gimbal stabilizer carrying an electro-optical camera with up to x40 zoom and a thermal sensor with x4 zoom. It communicates using encrypted 256-bit AES transmission over a 1.980–2.700 GHz bandwidth. It operates via a generic command and control API with full compatibility with the TAK interface. Its stated range exceeds 7 km line of sight, and it can boot in less than 40 seconds. Payload integration is modular through a standardized rail and Generic ICD, allowing a variety of mission equipment. It is NDAA compliant.

The Honey Badger is adapted for operations in GPS-denied environments, including tunnels, urban interiors, and regions affected by signal jamming. The system supports multiple flight modes, including pilot control, drop-based actions, and camera-focused reconnaissance. Its autonomy features allow the operator to designate a point on screen for navigation, after which the drone automatically avoids obstacles and enters targeted spaces such as doors and windows. Mesh networking allows multiple drones to operate under a single operator, supporting distributed awareness and coordination in multi-node scenarios. The system is built to function in electromagnetic clutter and enclosed areas, such as indoor or underground combat zones. It has been used in missions requiring real-time intelligence, precision in object or person identification, and limited exposure of human personnel.

Xtend was founded by Aviv Shapira, Matteo Shapira, and Rubi Liani, who had previously developed immersive control technologies for drone applications. The company initially targeted gaming and commercial sectors but shifted to defense applications following operational demand from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). During the 2019 and 2023 Gaza conflicts, Xtend adapted its platforms for tunnel exploration, reconnaissance in confined environments, and short-range urban surveillance. The systems were deployed to track targets and support hostage recovery. Feedback loops from IDF field units were used to refine the drone systems, including the Honey Badger. Xtend’s platforms were also used in Northern Israel, Lebanon, and Ukraine. The firm expanded from small-scale deployments to large production cycles, with continuous upgrades informed by direct field experience. It incorporated its technology into quadruped robots for reconnaissance when aerial flight was not feasible.

Xtend completed a $30 million extension of its Series B investment round in July 2025, raising a total of $100 million. The round included investments from Aliya Capital Partners, Protego Ventures, Claltech, Union-Tech, Chartered Group, and TAU Ventures. The company opened a 930-square-meter facility in Tampa, Florida, near MacDill Air Force Base and U.S. Special Operations Command. Operational since May 2025, the facility produces thousands of drones annually for the U.S. Department of Defense, especially for SOCOM. Production will expand to include electronic modules, control systems, and other components. Local authorities have supported the initiative due to job creation and national security alignment. The workforce at the U.S. site is expected to increase to 100 over three years. The plant also allows Xtend to meet domestic production requirements for U.S. military procurement. The investment enables the scaling of operations and reduces logistical constraints.

The U.S. Department of Defense, through its Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate (IWTSD), awarded a contract to Xtend for the Precision Strike Indoor and Outdoor (PSIO) drone project. This followed live-fire testing of the Scorpio 500 drone, which confirmed its ability to operate in confined indoor spaces with autonomous navigation and strike capabilities. The Scorpio 500, measuring approximately 45 cm across, carries up to 0.45 kg of payload and supports multiple warhead types, including directional fragmentation, shaped charge, and thermobaric munitions. The drone is designed for missions such as room clearing and engagement in GPS-denied environments. Communications can include mesh networking or fiber optic tethering, which protects the signal from jamming and allows for underground use. The Scorpio 500 and Honey Badger share many of the XOS architecture features. Deliveries for PSIO drones are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2025, and production is already underway in Florida.

Xtend employs between 100 and 120 personnel across locations in Israel, the United States, Singapore, and Eastern Europe. Over 5,000 units of its drone platforms have been sold globally in the past year. Its client base includes the IDF, U.S. Special Operations Command, European NATO partners, and law enforcement and emergency services. The company maintains three internal business units to handle defense, civil, and dual-use customers. The XOS operating system is designed to reduce operator training time to a few hours, a critical requirement for reservists and non-specialist users. This has been applied in the IDF, where drone operators often have limited time to train. Xtend is expanding XOS’s capabilities to support wider autonomy and cross-platform integration. Its product roadmap includes further development of Honey Badger, Scorpio, and Xtender systems, scaled production for foreign markets, and increased interoperability with Western defense networks. The company's growth coincides with a wider expansion of the Israeli defense tech sector since October 2023, including increased venture capital investment, new startup creation, and broader interest in dual-use AI and robotics technologies for military applications.