Seven companies in the Israeli Defence-AI Deployment Index build intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance software, or fuse sensor feeds into a single picture. Two are graded L3, three L2, one L1 and one L0. That is the strongest proportion of documented operational use in any large category of the index, and it makes Israeli ISR AI companies the group where a procurement officer has the most published material to read.
ISR software is easier to publish about than most defence AI. It is not a munition, it rarely identifies a defended site, and its customers include air forces and coastguards that publicise contracts. The grades follow the index's published grading rules.
L3 · Operational: two with reported military use
Axon Vision (2017, Tel Aviv) builds edge AI that classifies threats from cameras mounted on armoured vehicles and fixed installations. Globes reported that the IDF is using the company's AI to counter drones, distinguishing genuine air threats from other moving objects. Israel Defense separately reported the company presenting its Edge360 vehicle system at IDEX. The Globes report is the basis of the grade because it describes use, by a named force, from a source that is not the vendor. The sourcing is set out in full in the Axon Vision public record.
ThirdEye Systems (2010, Netanya) develops onboard vision processing for unmanned platforms. The Times of Israel reported a UAE conglomerate signing a $10 million drone-technology deal that included buying a stake in the company. That report also carries the export and ownership context that a buyer would want, and the full trail appears in the ThirdEye Systems entry.
L2 · Contract: three Israeli ISR AI companies with procurement
Edgybees (2016, Herzliya, with a US office in Maryland) overlays geospatial data onto live video. Janes reported the US Air Force awarding the company a contract for its Argus augmented-reality software. Airforce Technology reported the underlying AFWERX award, and the company's own PR Newswire release describes multiple AFWERX contracts. A named service and a named programme sit behind this entry, which is unusual at L2; what is absent is any published account of the software in operational use.
Windward (2010, Tel Aviv) applies AI to maritime domain awareness, scoring vessel behaviour for sanctions evasion and other risk. The company announced continued contract momentum through PR Newswire in 2024. That is a company-issued source, and the index records it as such.
Asio Technologies (2003, Rosh Ha'ayin) builds navigation and geo-registration systems for platforms operating without reliable satellite positioning. The Jerusalem Post covered the company in a defence-technology context. The entry rests on a procurement report rather than on any published operational account.
L1 · Trial: one at evaluation stage
Airis Labs (2023, Tel Aviv, with a second office in Washington DC) was covered by Calcalist's Ctech in connection with AI applied to intelligence workflows. What is published describes the company and its stage rather than a signed order. An L1 grade here reflects a company founded in 2023 whose public record has had two years to accumulate, which is not long in defence procurement.
L0 · Claimed: one thin record
Sightec (2018, Tel Aviv) builds GPS-free visual navigation. The available public material is an announcement carried by the Starburst accelerator in which the company states it has passed 3,000 deployments of its technology, described in that headline with the company's own phrase "battle-proven". The index does not treat a vendor's deployment count as corroboration, because no named customer, force or order appears in it. That distinction is the subject of what "battle-tested" means when nobody publishes the test.
The L0 grade records the absence of an independent source. It does not record that the 3,000 figure is wrong.
What the distribution shows
Two documented operational deployments out of seven is roughly double the index-wide rate of 13 in 50. The category also has the least reliance on undisclosed customers: the US Air Force, the IDF and a named UAE buyer all appear by name in the sourcing above. ISR software attracts publishable contracts because the buyer is often an air force or an agency with a public procurement channel, and because the product does not reveal a vulnerable location when it is named.
The pattern breaks at the bottom of the table. Both the L1 and L0 entries are companies founded in 2018 or later, and in both cases the published material is about the company rather than about a transaction. That is the recurring shape of the index and is examined across all fifty entries in the deployment evidence gap.
One boundary is worth stating. Satellite-derived intelligence is treated as a separate category in the index and is covered in Israeli space and satellite ISR. The seven companies here process sensor feeds from aircraft, vehicles, vessels and fixed installations rather than from orbit.
What would change it
Windward or Asio would move to L3 on a report from a navy, coastguard or defence ministry describing the software in use on an actual task, rather than a statement that a contract exists. For Edgybees, a US Air Force communication or a defence outlet describing Argus in operational use would do the same; participation in an exercise would not.
Sightec would move from L0 to L2 on one dated announcement of a real order with a stated scope, even without a named customer. It would move to L3 on any independent report identifying a force using the navigation system. Airis Labs would move on the first published contract. The mechanics are the same for every entry and are set out in what moves a grade from L0 to L3.
Limits of this reading
The index reads only English-language sources, which favours companies selling into the United States and Europe over those selling domestically. It records no detection accuracy, no false-alarm rates and no comparative performance of any kind, and it is not a capability assessment. A company graded L0 here may hold contracts that no party has chosen to announce. The inclusion test and full index set out what is and is not counted.
Frequently asked questions
Which Israeli ISR companies have documented military use?
Axon Vision and ThirdEye Systems are the two ISR and sensor-fusion entries graded L3. Globes reported the IDF using Axon Vision's AI against drones, and The Times of Israel reported a $10 million drone-technology deal involving ThirdEye. Both sources are independent of the companies.
Is a US Air Force contract enough for an operational grade?
No. Edgybees holds a reported US Air Force award for its Argus software, which the index grades L2. An L3 grade requires a public report of the system being used on an actual operational task, not a report that a contract was signed.
What does an L0 grade mean for an ISR company?
It means no independent public source corroborates a defence application. Sightec has published a deployment count through an accelerator announcement, but no named customer, force or order appears in it, so the index records the claim without treating it as corroboration.
Sources
- idf.ai, The Israeli Defense-AI Deployment Index v1.0, 24 August 2026
- Globes, IDF using Axon Vision's AI to combat drones
- Israel Defense, IDEX: Axon Vision will present the Edge360
- The Times of Israel, UAE conglomerate inks $10m drone tech deal to buy stake in Israel's ThirdEye
- Janes, US Air Force awards Edgybees contract for Argus augmented reality software
- Airforce Technology, Edgybees wins AFWERX contract to improve USAF situational awareness
- PR Newswire, Edgybees wins multiple AFWERX contracts to enhance US Air Force situational awareness
- PR Newswire, Windward announces that continued contract momentum provides a strong start to H2 2024
- The Jerusalem Post, Asio Technologies coverage
- Calcalist Ctech, Airis Labs coverage
- Starburst, Sightec announces over 3,000 deployments of its GPS-free visual navigation technology
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.