Here’s the latest drone company that I’m watching more closely now than ever: XTEND.
The Israeli-founded, Tampa-headquartered defense drone company XTEND is in the middle of a $1.5 billion merger with JFB Construction Holdings, which is a Florida-based commercial and residential real estate development and construction company. The merger will take XTEND public on Nasdaq under the ticker XTND in a deal expected to close by mid-2026.
There’s a lot going on with this company in terms of its partnerships and products, but there’s another reason I’m watching this company. Among the strategic investors backing that merger: Eric Trump, son of the sitting U.S. president. His brother Donald Trump Jr., meanwhile, is an investor in and advisory board member at Unusual Machines, which is also a backer of the XTEND merger. That’s two Trump sons with their hands in the same drone deal.
And since the merger was announced on February 17, the company has been moving fast . Here’s what you need to know about XTEND.
Key moments in XTEND’s 2026 timeline so far
Here are some key moments for XTEND this year.
- February 17: Merger with JFB announced, backed by $152 million in strategic investments including Eric Trump, Unusual Machines, and others.
- February 28: U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran begin — eleven days after Eric Trump’s investment became public record.
- March 3: XTEND announces it has mobilized operators from the U.S. and Latvia to the UK in response to a request from the Israeli Ministry of Defense, framing itself as “a truly global defense platform.”
- March 9: XTEND announces delivery of tactical drone systems under an $8 million Middle East defense contract — expandable to $25 million — for 5,000 systems with an option for 10,000 more. The customer is not named.
- March 23: XTEND announces completion of an $8.8 million U.S. government contract, with delivery to U.S. Special Operations Forces including live-flight training exercises with up to 30 operators.
- March 26: New counter-drone partnership with ParaZero Technologies announced.
What XTEND actually does
XTEND was founded in Tel Aviv in 2018 by brothers Aviv and Matteo Shapira alongside Rubi Lihani. Originally, it was as a gaming company using drone-based extended reality for VR flight simulation. But as we’ve seen many companies pivot from consumer to military, including Skydio and Teal, the same happened here.
For XTEND, October 7, 2023 changed the company’s direction entirely. CEO Aviv Shapira has said publicly that the Hamas attacks made him realize his technology could keep soldiers out of harm’s way, and the company pivoted into defense.
XTEND’s core product is the XTEND Operating System (XOS), which is a software platform that allows remote operators to control multiple air, ground and maritime drones simultaneously across complex missions. Its flagship platform, the Scorpio 1000, is a modular AI-powered drone designed for multi-domain missions.
XTEND’s drones have been used by the Israeli military in Gaza for purposes including mapping underground tunnels and using robotic arms to carry explosives to blow open doors, according to Al Jazeera. Meanwhile, XTEND says it has deployed over 10,000 systems across more than 30 countries, validated in five combat zones.
XTEND’s government contracts
XTEND’s $8.8 million U.S. government contract was completed March 23 and involved delivery to U.S. Special Operations Forces with New Equipment Training that included live-flight exercises and mission planning for up to 30 operators.
Then there’s the Middle East contract for $8 million with an option to $25 million. That deal calls for 5,000 systems with an option for 10,000 more, but the customer is opaque, identified only as “a government defense customer in the Middle East. The announcement was made on March 9, ten days into the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran.
XTEND’s new counter-drone capability via ParaZero
One of XTEND’s more recent announcements, the ParaZero partnership, adds a counter-drone capability to the XTEND platform. ParaZero’s DefendAir system offers a net-launching platform designed to physically capture hostile drones (rather than destroy them). Integrated with XTEND’s Scorpio 1000 drone, the combined system is designed to handle autonomous interception from detection through capture (no need for a human to make each individual decision).
The Iran War has demonstrated the challenge of intercepting swarms of cheap Shahed drones. This net-launching platform could theoretically capture drones without inciting explosive debris, and the ebnefits of interception versus purely destroying the drone is that there’s the opportunity for drone recovery and intelligence exploitation.
The Trump family ties
Ethics experts have raised conflict-of-interest concerns about the Trump family’s personal investments and whether family members are using the presidency to advance their financial interests. The FCC’s December 2025 ban on foreign-made drones — which effectively removed DJI and other foreign competitors from the U.S. market — was opposed by 97% of drone operators in a Pilot Institute survey of 8,056 pilots.
Yet, it’s been celebrated by many domestic manufacturers and lobbying groups, including AUVSI. The Trump family has financial ties to at least two of those domestic manufacturers: Unusual Machines (Donald Trump Jr.) and XTEND (Eric Trump).
XTEND is certainly a compelling company to follow. It’s Israeli-founded, U.S.-headquartered, NDAA-compliant, battle-tested, Trump-backed, and going public at a $1.5 billion valuation in the middle of an active regional conflict that has made its core technology more relevant than ever. Whether that convergence produces a durable defense company or a well-timed listing is a question the next twelve months will answer.
The post XTEND is building a drone empire, and Eric Trump is along for the ride appeared first on The Drone Girl.