Former Mossad director David “Dadi” Barnea is joining defense technology company Ondas Defense as its global president and chairman, the company announced Monday.
According to Ondas, Barnea will play a central role in developing, implementing and integrating advanced defense technologies while helping accelerate the company’s global expansion.
David Barnea
(Photo: Ido Erez)
Ondas supplies autonomous systems and advanced technologies for the defense and security sectors. The company said Barnea would also be involved in integrating its business operations, which are focused on four principal areas: air defense, intelligence collection and systems, precision-strike capabilities and unmanned ground vehicles.
The company said its goal is to combine those capabilities into a multidimensional defense system powered by artificial intelligence and advanced software.
“Barnea brings Ondas an extraordinary combination of current operational experience, strategic judgment, technological leadership and international relationships,” said Eric Brock, chairman and CEO of Ondas Holdings.
“He led one of the world’s most sophisticated intelligence organizations during a period of active conflict, evolving threats and complex operations in which artificial intelligence, advanced communications, cyber capabilities and specialized operational technologies played a significant role.
“Barnea understands how to lead an organization through profound change adapted to the realities of modern warfare, and how to turn emerging technologies into operational capabilities that create a genuine strategic advantage. That experience is directly relevant to the next stage of Ondas’ growth.”
Brock said the company was bringing together advanced technologies, operating companies, engineering capabilities and customer relationships into a unified defense platform. “Barnea will help us establish strategic priorities, strengthen our global presence and accelerate the development and deployment of integrated solutions for customers around the world,” he said.
The company said that as global president of Ondas Defense, Barnea would support its international strategy and relationships with defense customers, technology companies and strategic partners.
His responsibilities will include strategic and business development, as well as technological integration across the company’s four main sectors: air defense, intelligence collection and systems, precision strike and unmanned ground vehicles. The goal, the company said, is to provide customers with coordinated, multidimensional defense systems integrated through software and artificial intelligence.
Barnea’s work will focus in part on the Middle East, Europe and Asia, where governments are increasing investment in autonomous defense systems, counter-drone technology, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, resilient communications, precision-strike systems and robotics.He will also play a central role in Ondas’ technology and acquisition strategy. The company said he would help assess evolving operational requirements, identify capability gaps, examine investments and acquisitions involving new technologies, and set priorities for development and integration across the group’s companies and systems.
“The nature of warfare is changing rapidly, as can be seen in the wars in the Middle East and Europe,” Barnea said. “Operational advantage increasingly depends on the ability to connect intelligence, artificial intelligence, resilient communications, autonomous platforms and precision capabilities into a single, coordinated operational environment.
“Ondas has brought together a unique combination of technologies, companies and experienced teams in several of the most important areas of modern defense. The opportunity now is to connect those capabilities, establish a focused operational and technological strategy, and build an integrated platform capable of responding quickly to the changing requirements of governments and national security organizations.”
Barnea said he looked forward to working with Brock, Oshri and the entire Ondas team to support the company’s global expansion and help develop the next generation of multidimensional, AI-powered defense systems.