NEW DELHI: An AI-powered robotics and software systems company, XTEND, which is headquartered in Israel with a major base and production facility in US’ Florida, on Tuesday announced that it has signed an $11 million manufacturing and distribution agreement with India-based defence technology company Rayonix Tech for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to expand its AI-enabled autonomy platform XOS into the Indian market.Under the agreement, Rayonix will establish localised manufacturing, testing and distribution capabilities for UAV systems powered by XTEND’s proprietary XOS operating system and supported by a technology transfer and operational enablement programme. Significantly, XTEND is the same company that had last year bagged a contract to supply the Israeli army with 5,000 assault drones. XTEND’s XOS operating system will serve as the software backbone of UAV systems manufactured by Rayonix in India. The platform enables human-guided autonomy across multi-domain robotic systems and integrates AI-driven navigation, mission planning and real-time operational control.Rayonix has been made XTEND’s exclusive manufacturing and distribution partner for selected platforms in India. This agreement is part of XTEND’s broader strategy to expand its software-defined autonomy ecosystem through regional manufacturing partnerships that enable sovereign deployment under a broader unified software architecture.“India represents one of the fastest growing defence technology markets globally, with increasing demand for sovereign manufacturing and AI-enabled autonomous systems,” said Aviv Shapira, CEO and co-founder of XTEND, which is currently merging with the US-listed firm JFB Construction Holdings. “Through this partnership we are demonstrating our ability to enable sovereign manufacturing ecosystems while preserving the integrity of our software-first autonomy architecture.”Amit Pande, MD of Rayonix, said, “This partnership represents an important step towards bringing XTEND's battle-proven autonomous capabilities to India. Through localised manufacturing, Rayonix looks forward to enabling these technologies in India while contributing to the country's broader make-in-India vision for advanced defence capabilities.”