Israeli drone-ID technology reaches US commercial breakthrough

Israeli startup company Tondo Smart has developed a low altitude drone-identification technology that has secured a commercial breakthrough in the United States after completing a pilot in Los Angeles, California. 

“From an Israeli perspective, the technology reflects a clear dual-use case, with relevance not only for managing civilian drone traffic but also for identifying unauthorized aerial activity such as smuggling or illicit surveillance,” Tondo Smart said in an official statement. 

The company was established by Guy Saadi, a graduate from the Israeli military’s elite intelligence Unit 8200 and Micha Ben-Ezra, a veteran with three decades of experience in the electricity sector. The startup’s current headquarters is in Tel Aviv, and it also has a presence in Seattle, Washington, and Vancouver, Canada. 

The pilot test in California was implemented by the U.S. Tondo Smart subsidiary SphereLink. 

“This successful pilot demonstrated that existing city infrastructure can become a real-time operational layer for managing urban airspace,” SphereLink’s CEO Gilad Babchuk said.

“For us, Los Angeles was an important proof point, not only because of the city’s scale and complexity, but because it showed how Infrastructure Intelligence can support both smart city needs and security applications in one of the most important urban environments in the United States,” he assessed. With a population of around 10 million, Los Angeles is the second-largest urban metropolis in the United States after New York. 

Tondo’s drone-identification solution is an advanced AI-assisted platform that utilizes existing urban infrastructure for its sensors. The Israeli system is designed to both identify drone threats and coordinate authorized drones that operate in a specific geographic area. 

The decision to carry out the test pilot in Los Angeles was driven not only by the city’s vast size and complex urban infrastructure, but also by a concrete need to enhance its drone-detection capabilities ahead of World Cup matches scheduled there this summer. L.A. is also set to host the Super Bowl in 2027 and the Summer Olympic Games in 2028, with assessments indicating that both authorized and unauthorized drone activity will increase dramatically during these major international events. 

Tondo Smart refrained from revealing the concrete financial potential of the Los Angeles pilot. However, the company indicated that the commercial breakthrough in California could “carry meaningful commercial implications if it develops into broader municipal activity.”

The Jewish state is ranked as a prominent pioneering nation in drone technologies with both military and civilian applications. The Israeli military deployed its first drones already in the 1980s during the First Lebanon War.

The U.S. military is currently considering deploying the Israeli-developed AIR ONE Cargo eVTOL unmanned aircraft as a substitute for manned helicopters in high-risk war zones like the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. The Israeli unmanned aircraft is much cheaper than conventional helicopters and avoids putting personnel at risk in dangerous operational areas. 

“It’s a work platform, not a strategic asset,” AIR CEO and co-founder Rani Plaut explained. “If one is lost, it’s not a major event, and no personnel are put at risk."

The U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps are reportedly all eyeing the unmanned Israeli aircraft as a cost-effective and effective platform for risky operations, thereby reducing the need for manned helicopters.