Counter-UAS is the densest category in the Israeli Defence-AI Deployment Index. Eleven of the fifty entries build systems that detect, track or defeat small drones, and their published evidence spreads across all four grades: one at L3, five at L2, one at L1 and four at L0. That is the widest evidence spread of any category, and it makes Israeli counter-drone companies the clearest illustration of what the index measures — publication, not performance.
The grades below follow the index's published grading rules. L3 means a named public source reports military operational use. L2 means a publicly announced contract or order with no reported operational use. L1 covers trials, evaluations and exhibition demonstrations. L0 records a claimed defence application that no independent public source corroborates.
L3 · Operational: one counter-UAS entry
Robotican (founded 2013, Omer) is the only counter-UAS company in the index at L3. NoCamels reported in January 2024 on the company's Rooster and Goshawk systems, describing interceptor drones that capture a target drone in mid-air with a net. The report is by an identifiable outlet rather than the vendor, and it addresses use rather than specification, which is what the grade requires. The company profile sets out the full sourcing for Robotican's public deployment trail.
One entry out of eleven is the finding worth holding onto. The category is crowded with funded companies and thin on published accounts of systems in use.
L2 · Contract: five Israeli counter-drone companies with orders
D-Fend Solutions (2017, Ra'anana) builds EnforceAir, a radio-frequency cyber-takeover system that lands a rogue drone rather than jamming or shooting it. Unmanned Systems Technology reported EnforceAir2 being used by the US Army during the Combined Resolve 25-02 exercise. Exercise use does not meet the index's L3 test, which requires actual operations, so the entry sits at L2. Motorola Solutions announced completion of a $1.5 billion acquisition of the company in August 2026.
Magos Systems (2010, Rehovot) makes compact radar. The Times of Israel reported a deal to supply a drone-attack warning system to the Israeli army, which is a publicly named customer and a publicly named procurement — the L2 condition — without a published account of the system in operational use.
Sentrycs (2017, Tel Aviv) announced multimillion-dollar deals to protect military bases in Europe. The announcement is the company's own, distributed via PR Newswire, and it does not name the customer. That is common in this category and is treated at length in the undisclosed-customer problem.
Airobotics, whose Iron Drone Raider interceptor is now part of Ondas Holdings, disclosed a $3.4 million order through its parent's investor-relations channel. Again the source is the company side of the transaction, and the buyer is not named.
Autonomous Guard, the TASE-listed group behind Skylock and BeeSense, was reported by The Defense Post in March 2026 in connection with Israeli counter-drone procurement. The entry rests on that reporting rather than on any published operational account.
L1 · Trial: one company at evaluation stage
Althimis (2023, Tel Aviv) appeared in The Defense Post in July 2026 in connection with its Guardian drone-defence concept. What is published describes a system being shown and assessed, not bought. The index records that as L1 and nothing more. For a young company, an L1 grade is a statement about the age of the public record, not about the product.
L0 · Claimed: four with thin public records
Cogniteam (2007, Petah Tikva) was covered by The Jerusalem Post in connection with autonomy software applied to drone defence. The published material describes what the company offers rather than a named military buyer or user.
AeroNous Solutions appears in a partnership announcement issued through Innoviz's investor-relations channel, covering the integration of lidar into a counter-drone product. A partnership is not a procurement, and the announcement comes from one of the partners.
Insight Intelligent Sensors appears in an Ondas press release describing the expansion of the acquirer's AI sensing portfolio. The available public material is corporate, not operational.
Skapion is covered by Israel Defense, which describes the company's counter-drone approach. No independent report of an order or of use has been published that the index could find.
None of these four grades says the technology does not work. Each says that the public record is thin, and each names exactly what is missing.
What the distribution shows
Eleven companies, one documented operational deployment. The bulk of the category sits at L2, where a contract exists and the customer frequently does not appear in the announcement. Two of the five L2 entries — Airobotics / Iron Drone Raider and Sentrycs — rest on material issued by the company or its parent rather than by a reporter, and the index flags that on the face of each entry.
Two structural forces produce this shape. First, counter-UAS procurement is often base security, which buyers rarely publicise. Second, the commercial incentive runs toward announcing the order and staying silent about the deployment, because the deployment identifies the site being defended. The result is a category with heavy investment, visible consolidation — the Motorola Solutions acquisition of D-Fend being the largest disclosed transaction in the sector — and very little published about systems in use. The crowding itself is examined in why counter-UAS is the most contested Israeli category.
What would change it
An L2 entry moves to L3 when a named outlet, a defence ministry statement or an armed force's own communication reports the system used against drones in actual operations. Exercise participation, however large, does not qualify; the D-Fend entry is the clearest example of that boundary.
An L0 entry moves to L2 on a single dated announcement of a real order, even one with an undisclosed customer, provided the value or scope is stated. Several of the four L0 entries here are recent enough that a first contract announcement would be unremarkable. The full mechanics are set out in what moves a grade, and the announced-contract subset is listed in Israeli counter-drone companies with public contracts.
Limits of this reading
The index reads English-language sources. Israeli counter-drone procurement is frequently reported first in Hebrew and sometimes not at all, so this distribution probably understates the L2 and L3 bands. It contains no detection ranges, no defeat rates and no field performance data of any kind. A company graded L0 here may hold a classified order; nothing in the public record would show it. The full index and its inclusion test set out the boundary conditions.
Frequently asked questions
Which Israeli counter-drone company has documented operational use?
Robotican is the only counter-UAS entry in the index graded L3. NoCamels reported in January 2024 on its interceptor drones capturing target drones in mid-air. Ten other Israeli counter-UAS companies in the index hold contract, trial or claimed grades instead.
Does a US Army exercise count as operational deployment?
Not under this index. D-Fend's EnforceAir2 was reported in use during the Combined Resolve 25-02 exercise, which the index grades L2. The L3 grade requires a public report of use in actual operations, not in training or evaluation.
Why do so many counter-drone contract announcements omit the customer?
Because naming the buyer usually identifies the site being defended. Base-security procurement is rarely publicised by the purchaser, so vendors announce the order value while withholding the customer. The index records these as L2 and flags the company-issued sourcing.
Sources
- idf.ai, The Israeli Defense-AI Deployment Index v1.0, 24 August 2026
- NoCamels, Combat drones that catch prey in mid-air and underground, January 2024
- Unmanned Systems Technology, D-Fend Solutions EnforceAir2 deployed by U.S. Army during Combined Resolve 25-02
- Motorola Solutions, Motorola Solutions completes acquisition of D-Fend Solutions
- DroneLife, Motorola Solutions completes $1.5 billion acquisition of D-Fend Solutions, 21 August 2026
- The Times of Israel, Radar tech AI startup clinches deal for drone attack warning system to Israeli army
- PR Newswire, Sentrycs secures multimillion-dollar deals to protect military bases in Europe
- Ondas Holdings investor relations, Ondas secures $3.4 million order for Iron Drone Raider
- The Defense Post, Israel's Autonomous Guard drones, 19 March 2026
- The Defense Post, Althimis Guardian drone defences, 28 July 2026
- The Jerusalem Post, Israeli firms unveil new collaboration for drone-detection tool
- Innoviz investor relations, AeroNous partners with Innoviz lidar
- Ondas Holdings investor relations, Ondas expands its AI sensing capabilities
- Israel Defense, report on Skapion
Independent publication of idf.ai. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Israel Defense Forces, the Israeli Ministry of Defense, or any government body. Compiled entirely from publicly published sources. No classified, restricted or non-public information. Listed companies may dispute any entry: send the published source that contradicts it and the entry will be amended or removed.