Israeli drone manufacturer opens US hub in Tampa

Tampa

Drone manufacturer opens office and production hub

XTEND Reality Inc., an Israeli autonomous drone systems manufacturer, has opened its new U.S. headquarters in Tampa. The 10,000-square-foot office and production facility is at 5247 Crossroads Park Drive, off of Tanner Road and south of Hillsborough Avenue near Interstate 75 in the Crossroads Industrial Center. It would not say how much it spent on the facility. According to the defense technology company, the facility expands its U.S. production capacity to meet a demand for advanced drone systems in the defense and public safety sectors. In a statement it says that while the focus is on a contract for the U.S. Department of Defense, manufacturing will eventually expand to other critical drone components. That includes communication modules, motors and controllers for the broader industry. Tel-Aviv based XTEND was founded in 2018 by brothers Aviv and Matteo Shapira and Rubi Liani. The company specializes in AI-assisted, human-guided drone systems. Before XTEND, the Shapira brothers co-founded Replay Technologies, which sold to Intel in 2016 for $175 million.