Autonomous drone maker Dzyne Technologies has been acquired for $876 million by a fast-growing Florida-based defense and security technology firm, marking one of the largest defense tech deals in recent years in Orange County.
Ondas Inc. on July 6 announced its purchase of Dzyne, the maker of surveillance and reconnaissance drones as well as defenses against airborne threats. With the purchase, Dzyne co-founder and Chief Executive Matt McCue will assume the title of chief technology officer for a newly formed Ondas unit.
“Dzyne brings exceptional technology, world-class engineering talent and mission-ready systems,” Eric Brock, Ondas’ founder, chairman and chief executive, said in the announcement.
Ondas, based in West Palm Beach, develops autonomous drones, counter-drone technology and communications systems for government and industrial customers.
With the acquisition of Dzyne and other firms, analysts are expecting Ondas sales to approach $1 billion in 2027; it currently has a $4.2 billion market cap (Nasdaq: ONDS).
The Dzyne History
McCue was chief engineer at Swift Engineering, which built next-generation aviation designs and components, including the “Killer Bee” drone, which was acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2009.
In 2012, McCue started Dzyne, which now has the U.S. military as a major customer as well as allies like Australia, Japan and Thailand. The company has 377 employees, including 119 engineers, in six U.S. locations.
The company attracted several senior-level defense officials, including Chief Strategy Officer Christopher Miller, who previously had served as director of the National Counterterrorism Center and acting U.S. Secretary of Defense at the end of the first Trump presidential administration, and retired Vice Admiral Collin Green as head of strategic defense solutions.
In 2024, Dzyne moved into a 125,000-square-foot facility in the Irvine Spectrum area.
Dzyne revenue will grow from $191 million this year to $300 million in 2027 and has an expected 80% compounded annual growth rate from 2025 to 2008, according to a deck provided by Ondas about the acquisition. It says Dzyne has a $1.5 billion pipeline as of June 30, 2026.
“The business has been profitable since inception 14 years ago” McCue told the Business Journal in an interview in April.
The Drone Advantage
It’s in an industry that is emerging at the center of a large-scale debate on whether the U.S. should continue spending hundreds of billions on manned aircraft such as Lockheed Martin’s controversial F-35 fighter, a program that has widespread support in Congress.
Dzyne is one of dozens of drone companies popping up as the U.S. military seeks cheaper and more nimble ways to wage war.
There is widespread agreement that using traditional multi-million-dollar missiles to combat drones is not cost-effective for the military or taxpayers.
“Defense spending is shifting toward autonomy, AI and mass-deployable systems —directly aligned with our portfolio,” Ondas said in its deck.
The total addressable market of $20.8 billion in 2025 is expected to grow at a 16% compounded annual growth rate until 2030 when it will have a $44 billion TAM, the deck said.
Cash, Stock for Acquisition
Ondas CEO Brock is an entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in global banking and investing. He served as a founding partner and portfolio manager with Clough Capital Partners, a Boston-based investment firm, from 2000 to 2017. Prior to Clough, Brock was an investment banker at Bear, Stearns & Co. and an accountant at Ernst & Young.
Dzyne is now part of a new unit called Ondas Sentinel, along with Arizona-based World View Enterprises, an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance company that Ondas purchased earlier this year. World View CEO Ryan Hartman is the CEO of the unit while McCue is the CTO.
Ondas sales have jumped from $1.2 million in 2024 to $50.7 million in 2025. With the acquisitions, analysts expect sales to soar 87% to $981 million in 2027.
The Dzyne acquisition was financed through $200 million in cash and $675 million in equity in Ondas.
Dzyne is a portfolio company of private equity firm Highlander Partners of Dallas.
“We structured this transaction to take the majority of our consideration in Ondas equity because we believe in the long-term value of the combined platform,” said Jeff Hull, president and chief executive officer of Highlander Partners, the majority owner of Dzyne.
The Dzyne Edge
Dzyne Technologies has three key franchises, according to a deck by Ondas Inc.:
– The Ultra drone that can fly for three days at more than 25,000 feet altitude with a 450-pound payload and the Leap Drone with a smaller footprint that can fly for more than one day at 17,000 feet altitude and a 370-pound payload capacity.
– Counter drone systems, including the Dronebuster vehicle kit. The Dronebuster system is so light that soldiers can carry it in a backpack; the user points the electronic weapon at the drones and attacks them with radio waves rather than bullets.
The system is “combat proven, fielded today—not a future concept,” the deck said.
The company is also developing its IonStrike interceptor. Weighing just 25 pounds, it can knock out attackers such as Iran’s much-publicized Shahed drone.
“The military needs low-cost means of taking those $35,000 threats down,” Dzyne CEO Matt McCue told the Business Journal on April 8.
That’s approximately the same price his company plans to charge for its IonStrike drones, capable of being launched from the battlefield and flying 25 miles. The drones are being rapidly developed, with a full introduction later this year.
– The Blitz drone provides precision strikes up to 150 kilometers away and the Grasshopper drone is an expendable glider capable of delivering up to 500 pounds of cargo to war zones.
—Peter J. Brennan
