by Anna Ahronheim
Xtend was approached by the government of Venezuela to help rescuers find victims. Its platforms have already helped save the life of one man trapped under the rubble for over 72 hours.
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Mexico City’s Topos Azteca search and rescue brigade has been using Israeli technology to access areas still too dangerous for humans to enter in search of victims buried under the rubble in Venezuela’s La Guaira earthquake sites.
The death toll in Latin America’s largest natural disaster in decades has risen to over 2,600, and while hopes of finding more survivors diminish, search and rescue teams are not stopping.
Dozens of countries have sent personnel to the disaster areas, including Syria’s White Helmets (the Syria Civil Defense humanitarian aid volunteer organization). Despite not having diplomatic relations with Caracas for 17 years, Israel has also sent a team.
Defense and Tech by The Jerusalem Post has learned that XTEND’s Honey Badger and XTENDER, both unmanned aerial systems (UAS) that work in tandem, have been critical components in rescue personnel’s ongoing efforts in the region.
D&T understands that the use of the systems is part of a special project, in line with the company’s approach to the Venezuelan government’s efforts to assist in the complex environment.
XTEND, headquartered in Tel Aviv and Florida, quickly sent a team to the South American country. Once there, its members were assigned to a search-and-rescue team spearheaded by Mexico City’s famous Topos Azteca search-and-rescue brigade.
Local reports said that with the help of the two UAS systems, the brigade was able to rescue a man who had been trapped between a roof and a collapsed wall, 72 hours after the twin earthquakes of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude struck the country.
According to XTEND, the Honey Badger is a compact multi-mission drone designed for close-range operations.
The platform is built to operate in dense urban terrain and areas where GPS access is disrupted, a challenge facing search and rescue forces in Venezuela.
Further, the Honey Badger carries modular payloads of up to three kilograms and can be deployed within seconds.
The system integrates into a three-drone mesh network, enabling operators to share targeting data and maintain real-time situational awareness.
This platform has a flight time of roughly 35 minutes and a range of more than six km. It is powered by XTEND’s XOS operating interface, which the company described as designed to simplify control and shorten training time for frontline personnel.
As for XTENDER, this is a micro tactical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platform designed for indoor and subterranean operations where GPS access is limited or unavailable.
The system is designed to provide forces with immediate situational awareness in confined spaces, enabling room-clearing, mapping, and reconnaissance from a safe distance.
According to XTEND, the platform is impact-resistant and equipped with floodlights, allowing operators to navigate and gather intelligence in low-visibility environments.
Weighing 1.2 kg., the drone has a flight time of roughly 10 minutes and a range of over 1.6 km. It features encrypted communications, sense-and-avoid functions, and multiple launch options, including ground, hand, and air deployment.
The system is intended to enhance surveillance and reconnaissance for those operating in complex indoor terrain, where traditional automated systems are less effective, XTEND said.
Like the Honey Badger, XTENDER operates as part of a three-drone mesh team and is powered by the company’s XOS interface.
The two US-manufactured systems correlate. The Honey Badger enables the operator to work from a distance in outdoor and urban areas, while XTENDER goes inside rooms, stairwells, and subterranean spaces, mapping in real time areas that the GPS system cannot reach.
The operator commands both UAS platforms. The drones handle navigation and observation; the human maintains mission intent and rules-of-engagement authority throughout.
From video games to warzones and natural disasters
XTEND was founded in 2018 by Aviv and Matteo Shapira, Rubi Liani, and Adir Tubi. Originally, it was a gaming company that used drone-based extended reality technology along with virtual reality to simulate flight in video games.
Following Hamas’s October 7 massacre, the company shifted toward defense applications after the founders realized that their technology could help troops.
It developed a new concept of operations – an idea proposing how their drones could serve the end-users – IDF soldiers – by entering the battlefield before the soldiers did.
The company has since specialized in human-guided autonomous machine systems for defense applications.
XTEND now delivers next-generation autonomous systems for defense, public safety, and private security applications built on its battle-proven XOS operating system.
Its products leverage remote operations, enabling multiple air, ground, and maritime drones to execute complex, dynamic missions with immediate operational readiness.
With its products, XTEND aims to enable operators to control and interact with their drones and autonomous ground vehicles for various mission types, using VR/AR interfaces and AI, including in underground or other complex environments.
The company has deployed over 10,000 systems worldwide across 30 countries, including the US, Singapore, the UK, Israel, and five combat zones.
Anna Ahronheim
Source: https://www.jpost.com/defense-and-tech/article-901313
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