Eric Brock is the founder and CEO of Ondas Holdings (NASDAQ: ONDS), a leading provider of autonomous systems including counter-drone platforms, unmanned ground vehicles, and multi-domain defense solutions that are powering operations for defense, security, and critical infrastructure customers worldwide.
Under Eric Brock's leadership, Ondas has transformed into a high-growth defense tech platform, executing a series of strategic acquisitions and landing multiple government contracts.
Ondas Holdings' momentum has translated directly to the public markets: shares of Ondas surged over +300% in 2025 alone, and have been hitting all-time highs in early 2026 amid accelerating demand for American-made drones, counter-UAS systems, and autonomous technologies.
In this exclusive interview with The New Money, Eric Brock shares his perspective on the generational adoption cycle in autonomous defense systems, the massive upside unfolding in American national security and more.
Tell us a bit about where you see defense tech and security being positioned right now in the markets. What is the biggest thing you are excited about as it relates to the upside potential for the space as a whole?
We are in the early stages of a massive investment and adoption cycle in unmanned and autonomous systems. This follows more than a decade of foundational work—developing the technology stack and working closely with customers to validate real, mission-critical use cases.
What’s exciting is that the technology is now mature, customers clearly see the value, and that is unleashing the adoption cycle many investors have been anticipating for years. We are seeing broad-based deployment across defense, homeland security, and critical infrastructure.
Importantly, we’re also seeing a separation between companies that can build impressive technology and those that can actually build scaled businesses. The leaders are emerging, and that transition is creating significant investment opportunities across the sector.
There’s been a huge push from the United States government to accelerate drone manufacturing in America. The Department of War recently committed a billion dollars in spending for American-made drones. What’s your perspective on how that changes the future?
I think it’s a brilliant policy decision. The Drone Dominance program is focused on small, FPV-style strike drones—low-cost, high-volume, attritable systems. This is exactly the type of market that drives scale, capital investment, and resilience across the defense industrial base.
The program is also designed to identify which companies can actually fund and operate businesses capable of producing drones at scale and at the right price. Designing a drone and building prototypes is something many companies can do. Building drones reliably, affordably, and in very high volumes is something most companies cannot do.
Drone Dominance will help identify the true leaders. That’s good for the Department of War, but it’s also critical for the broader supply chain, which needs scaled OEMs to invest around. We need industrial-scale drone manufacturers—not an artisanal industry.
Ondas was very early on counter-drone systems and technology. Why did you make this such a big focus, and where is that opportunity going in your view?
We were early in committing capital to counter-drone platforms, and we’re certainly pleased we had that focus. That decision came from strong team vision and conviction around how the market would develop.
We acquired Iron Drone, our autonomous hard-kill counter-UAS platform, in March 2023. At the time, industry experts recognized it as a leading technology, but the end market had not fully emerged. We believed it was only a matter of time, given how rapidly drone capabilities were advancing and how disruptive they would become.
Six months later, Hamas attacked Israel, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict had clearly transformed into a drone war. At that point, the urgent need for counter-UAS capabilities became obvious, and the market opened very quickly.
We now see a large, global investment cycle in counter-drone infrastructure that could last a decade or more. The urgency to protect the “lower skies” is just beginning.
Ondas has expanded well beyond drones and aerial systems. Why are you acquiring robotics companies such as Roboteam, and what opportunities for growth does that unlock?
Much like aerial systems, unmanned ground vehicles—UGVs—are reaching a point of rapid maturity. The technology stack has advanced significantly, and extensive field deployment has proven their value across a wide range of use cases.
These include logistics, surveillance, perimeter security, and increasingly, weaponized systems operating directly in contested environments. Many of these are “bots before boots” use cases—deploying robots ahead of soldiers, police officers, or first responders to reduce risk and save lives.
The addressable markets are in the tens of billions of dollars, and we are just now entering the adoption curve. We believe some very large and important businesses will be built around UGV platforms over the coming years.
Ondas has also started a venture capital arm to make strategic investments. Tell us about the thesis there. Specifically, how does owning minority equity stakes in private companies fit into the Ondas platform?
Ondas Capital is a strategic investment platform, not a traditional venture fund.
Our mandate is to take minority equity stakes in battle-proven, mission-critical unmanned and autonomy technologies—typically companies that are technically validated but need help scaling and localizing into U.S. and allied markets.
Minority ownership allows us to secure early access to differentiated platforms, integrate them into Ondas’ System-of-Systems architecture, and de-risk potential future acquisitions while preserving flexibility. Ondas Capital also accelerates localization by leveraging our U.S. and European manufacturing footprint, NDAA-compliant supply chains, regulatory expertise, and deep customer access.
Importantly, it is also designed to create standalone equity value. We invest post-validation but pre-scale, drive valuation uplift through commercialization and market access, and offer investors multiple exit paths—including strategic sales or eventual acquisition by Ondas.
In short, Ondas Capital strengthens the ecosystem while delivering attractive equity upside for investors.
Ondas has one of the largest cash positions among emerging publicly listed drone companies in North America. Are you more focused on acquisitions or deepening investment into existing technology?
A strong cash position is a major competitive advantage and highly beneficial for our investors. Our end markets are inflecting and poised for sustained growth, which requires growth capital that can be deployed at very attractive returns.
At the same time, much of our sector remains severely capital constrained. Many companies are venture-backed technology developers rather than scaled operating businesses. That creates the need for consolidation—layering mature, proven technologies into strong operating platforms with production, supply chain, and field support capabilities.
Given the number of sub-scale but valuable technology platforms created over the last decade, our strategy is to acquire mature, field-proven systems rather than pursue long-cycle, high-risk platform development.
There is no shortage of technology developers. The real gap is business builders—and that’s what we are focused on: building a scaled, high-growth, highly profitable operating company delivering critical defense and security solutions.
The FCC recently banned foreign drone imports into America. What opportunities doesthat create for the drone supply chain and the industry as a whole?
The expansion of the FCC covered list was a major inflection point for the industry. It forces the U.S. drone ecosystem to move rapidly toward full self-sufficiency, which is critical for long-term national security.
While this creates near-term pressure, it also opens a major investment window given the lack of maturity and capacity in the domestic supply chain. It will force companies, suppliers, and investors to scale quickly and professionally.
Ultimately, this pressure will help the industry grow up. Well-funded companies with strong talent, infrastructure, and execution capability will be positioned to lead, and that’s a very positive dynamic.
What do you think is misunderstood by public market investors about defense tech and security right now?
Public markets have historically lagged private markets in understanding defense and security. These are complex technologies with specialized language, regulatory frameworks, and risk profiles.
Until recently, most investment activity occurred in private markets. Public market understanding has really accelerated only over the past 12 to 18 months, and we’ve seen a meaningful increase in awareness around Ondas, our platforms, use cases, and competitive positioning.
One key misunderstanding is around technology adoption curves. Many investors focus on near-term catalysts, such as individual orders or program awards like Drone Dominance or CUAS.
What they miss is that technology is fundamentally transforming defense, homeland security, and critical infrastructure operations. This is very early in a long platform adoption and infrastructure cycle that could last 10 to 20 years.
We are going to build very large companies in this sector. History shows that when TAMs reach tens or hundreds of billions, the market capitalization created can be multiples of those numbers. Consolidation is going to concentrate that market capitalization across a small number of companies. Investors who take a multi-year view, rather than a trading approach, should be very well rewarded.
If you could only buy one stock right now outside of Ondas, which would it be and why?
That’s a tough question. I have many friends in the industry and am bullish on their prospects. I also believe additional private companies will come public and create compelling opportunities.
I’m not an investment advisor, but I would encourage investors to focus on identifying a small number of true leaders. Spend time learning from experienced industry participants across both public and private markets and engage directly with the companies themselves.
As this investment cycle unfolds, the leaders will be disproportionate winners, and those returns will compound over a long period of time. The dispersion in returns will be significant. Find the leaders.
