Three years after Ondas entered Israel’s defense market, the U.S.-listed holding company has become a fast-growing and unusually opaque player in the sector. It bought Israeli drone maker Airobotics out of Tel Aviv in 2023 for just $15 million, later delisted from the local market in May 2024, and has since completed 25 acquisitions worth at least $1 billion in total, according to PitchBook. Ondas now has a market value of about $4.75 billion, after rising 488% over the past year, despite a 6% drop in the last month.
In his first interview, Brig. Gen. (res.) Oshri Lugassi, who moved from Rafael to lead Ondas’ defense activity, said the company aims to give Israel and Western militaries faster, cheaper responses to evolving threats. “The price Israel pays today for its security is not normal by any measure,” he said, adding that the goal is to build robotic production lines to reduce labor dependence and cut costs. Lugassi, 54, previously served as Rafael’s liaison to the IDF and Defense Ministry and was involved in major deals including Iron Dome and Trophy.
Ondas was founded in 2018 after buying the communications company Zev and turning it into a holding company. It now employs about 1,000 people in 15 offices worldwide. Lugassi said the company’s focus is on robotics, including drones, unmanned aircraft and autonomous ground systems, and that after its acquisitions it has received approval from the Ground Forces to equip units in Lebanon with operational robots for detecting enemies, finding bombs and destroying them.
He said Ondas is working on a multi-layer anti-drone system using acoustic, optical and electromagnetic sensors, along with interceptor drones that can neutralize Hezbollah fiber-optic drones by dropping nets or firing guided missiles. He said integration work is underway in Lebanon with the Defense Ministry’s MAFAT, and that an effective response could be delivered within weeks, at most two months. He also said the broader drone threat, especially from explosive drones, is becoming manageable within a few months.
Lugassi rejected concerns about foreign control, saying Ondas Israel is a separate company under full Israeli regulation and that no product leaves Israel without Defense Ministry approval. He said 40% of the shares are held by U.S. institutional investors, including Vanguard, Defiance, VanEck, BlackRock and JPMorgan, while about 56% are held by private investors and small funds, and that Ondas has raised $1.8 billion from U.S. institutions alone. He added that the company’s acquisition strategy is meant to create an ecosystem of cooperation with Israeli and global defense firms, and said Ondas plans to have thousands of employees in Israel by year-end.
