Former Mossad chief David Barnea joins Ondas as defense tech company builds AI-powered warfare platform
Barnea joins Ondas as Global President and Chairman after the Nasdaq-listed company spent hundreds of millions acquiring drone, intelligence and autonomous systems companies in an effort to create an integrated defense technology group.
Former Mossad Director David Barnea is moving from Israel’s intelligence establishment to the private defense industry, joining Nasdaq-listed Ondas as Global President and Chairman of its defense division at a time when the company is attempting one of the most ambitious consolidation efforts in the rapidly expanding autonomous warfare market.
Barnea’s appointment comes after Ondas spent the past year aggressively expanding through acquisitions, buying defense technology companies across the United States, Israel and Europe as it seeks to combine drones, intelligence systems, counter-drone capabilities, robotics and artificial intelligence into a unified military technology platform.
The company recently agreed to acquire U.S. defense technology company DZYNE Technologies for $875.8 million, its largest acquisition to date. The deal followed purchases of Israeli mission-management software company Omnisys for approximately $200 million and Scotland-based Cyberhawk for approximately $125 million, alongside earlier acquisitions including Israeli companies Airobotics, Roboteam and Sentrycs.
The strategy has transformed Ondas from a niche autonomous systems company into a broader defense technology group focused on what it describes as “multi-domain” warfare, integrating intelligence collection, communications, autonomous platforms and AI-powered decision-making.
Barnea will join Ondas Defense Ltd. and work alongside Chairman and CEO Eric Brock and Oshri Lugassy, Co-CEO of Ondas Autonomous Systems. His responsibilities will include supporting global expansion, defense relationships, technology development, acquisitions and the integration of the company’s growing portfolio.
Barnea brings nearly three decades of intelligence and national security experience. From 2021 to 2026, he served as director of the Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency, leading the organization through a period marked by heightened regional conflict, confrontation with Iran and Hezbollah, hostage negotiations and complex intelligence operations.
During his tenure, the Mossad underwent a technological transformation focused on strengthening intelligence, cyber capabilities, operational systems and the use of artificial intelligence and advanced data technologies.
Ondas is betting that experience will translate into the private sector, where defense companies increasingly face a different challenge: integrating a growing number of specialized technologies into operational systems that can be deployed by militaries.
“David understands how to transform an organization around the realities of modern warfare and how to convert emerging technologies into operational capabilities that provide a meaningful strategic advantage,” Ondas CEO Eric Brock said.
Following the DZYNE deal, Ondas said it expects revenue of at least $525 million in 2026, up from previous guidance of $390 million, with DZYNE alone projected to generate approximately $191 million in revenue this year and more than $300 million in 2027.
Barnea’s role will include helping determine how those individual businesses can operate together.
“He will help us establish strategic priorities, strengthen our global presence and accelerate the development and deployment of integrated solutions for governments and defense organizations around the world,” Brock said.
Barnea said future military advantage would increasingly depend on combining these capabilities.
“Operational advantage increasingly depends on the ability to combine intelligence, artificial intelligence, resilient communications, autonomous platforms and precision capabilities into one coordinated operational environment,” he said.
Ondas has recently announced more than $70 million in new orders across unmanned ground systems, border security, counter-UAS, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and autonomous precision-strike technologies.
