{
  "id": 19661364,
  "title": "Ondas bets big on Israel with $1b. investment over past year",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/12/ondas-bets-big-on-israel-with-1b-investment-over-past-year",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-12T14:32:15.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Jerusalem Post",
    "slug": "jerusalem-post",
    "url": "https://www.jpost.com/defense-and-tech/article-914717"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Ondas Autonomous Systems has allocated a significant $1 billion investment towards Israel over the past year, as revealed by Dr. Judith Hocherman-Frommer, the company's CTO and chief engineer, at the UVID DroneTech 2026 conference in Expo Tel Aviv. She emphasized that this investment is becoming increasingly critical, given the strategic importance of acquisition in the defense technology sector. In the last 18 months, Ondas has acquired 27 defense-tech companies, with the majority being Israeli. Beyond acquisitions, Ondas is dedicated to enhancing each company's capabilities, fostering collaboration, and solving operational challenges in real time. The company's mission, \"Bots before boots,\" underscores its commitment to autonomous systems leading defense efforts. Hocherman-Frommer highlighted the rapid evolution of threats, necessitating swift and practical responses. She argued that the defense industry must transition from lengthy development cycles and expensive, standalone missiles to developing simpler, faster systems that can be produced at high quality and affordable costs. This shift, she said, requires a focus on autonomy and artificial intelligence, enabling systems to operate independently while human oversight is provided. The company's recent purchase order for a next-generation tactical attack drone under its Digital Bat program marks a transition from development to serial production and large-scale manufacturing. They plan to leverage their acquisition of ARAN Defense, an Israeli engineering and manufacturing company, to establish dedicated production lines for thousands of autonomous systems. This acquisition is expected to bolster Ondas' growing defense portfolio with advanced engineering, industrialization, systems integration, supply-chain management, and manufacturing capabilities.",
  "summary": "'Investment in Israel is becoming mission critical' says Chief Engineer of Ondas Autonomous Systems Dr. Judith Hocherman-Frommer",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}