Snapshot from Aug 10, 2026 at 07:00 UTC. For live data and tracking: View Live
Events / Business / RSE and Ondas invest in FPF Defense
Business strategic investment

RSE and Ondas invest in FPF Defense

Analysis based on 6 articles · First reported Jul 24, 2026 · Last updated Jul 24, 2026

Sentiment
15
Attention
2
Articles
6
Market Impact
General
Live prominence charts, article sentiment distribution, and event development timeline available on the Ergen Dashboard
Market Impact

The investment signals growing private and public market interest in cost-effective counter-drone solutions, potentially boosting Ondas's stock and defense sector valuations. It may also spur further defense-tech clustering in South Florida.

defense aerospace technology
Event Summary

On July 24, 2026, RSE Ventures and Ondas Inc. (NASDAQ:ONDS) announced a co-led strategic investment into FPF Defense, a defense technology company developing the SmartFlak counter-UAS system and Hammerhead interceptor. FPF Defense, led by former Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller, aims to close the cost-asymmetry gap against cheap one-way attack drones like the Shahed-class. The investment will accelerate development, establish U.S.-based manufacturing, expand engineering headcount, and relocate FPF's headquarters to West Palm Beach, Florida, joining Ondas in a growing defense-tech ecosystem. FPF's team includes former United States — DARPA, DIU, and special operations personnel. The deal was led by Nick Perkins of RSE Ventures.

Key Actions
80 RSE Ventures co-led investment FPF Defense
80 Ondas Holdings co-led investment FPF Defense
30 FPF Defense relocating headquarters
Entities Involved
priv
FPF Defense
Recipient of the investment; will accelerate development of SmartFlak and Hammerhead, relocate HQ to West Palm Beach.
Importance 100.0 Sentiment 40.0
priv
RSE Ventures
Co-led the investment, expanding its defense portfolio alongside Performance Drone Works.
Importance 80.0 Sentiment 20.0
stock
Ondas Holdings
Co-led the investment, aligning with its focus on autonomous and counter-drone warfare; positive for its stock.
Importance 80.0 Sentiment 30.0
per
Chris Miller
CEO of FPF Defense; former Acting Secretary of Defense, lending credibility and leadership.
Importance 70.0 Sentiment 15.0
cnt
United States
Beneficiary of FPF's technology for national defense; potential customer.
Importance 50.0 Sentiment 10.0
per
Matthew Higgins
CEO & Co-founder of RSE Ventures; co-founded Performance Drone Works, involved in defense investments.
Importance 40.0 Sentiment 10.0
per
Eric Brown
CEO of Ondas; expressed confidence in FPF's team and technology.
Importance 30.0 Sentiment 10.0
govactor
United States — United States Department of Defense
Potential customer for FPF's systems; Christopher Miller's former role.
Importance 30.0 Sentiment 10.0
cnt
Ukraine
Conflict in Ukraine highlighted the need for cost-effective counter-drone systems.
Importance 20.0 Sentiment -10.0
per
Stephen M. Ross
Founder of RSE Ventures; indirectly involved through the firm's investment.
Importance 20.0 Sentiment 5.0
per
Jeff Maas
CTO of FPF Defense; former United States — DARPA program manager, brings technical expertise.
Importance 20.0 Sentiment 5.0
per
Austin Scott
Advisor to FPF Defense; former Commander of JSOC and U.S. Forces Afghanistan.
Importance 20.0 Sentiment 5.0
priv
Performance Drone Works
Another defense investment in RSE's portfolio; specializes in UAS.
Importance 20.0 Sentiment 5.0
per
Grant Fox
COO of FPF Defense; experience from U.S. Navy and DIU.
Importance 15.0 Sentiment 5.0
per
Christian Sessoms
CRO and co-founder of FPF Defense; former Army Special Forces officer.
Importance 15.0 Sentiment 5.0
+ 13 more entities View on Dashboard
Relationships
Ondas Holdings related ↔ Eric Brown
United States related ↔ Eric Brown
United States related ↔ United States — United States Department of Defense
United States strategic-partner ↔ Ukraine The United States serves as Ukraine's primary security patron, providing billions in military aid while increasingly lev
Eric Brown related ↔ Ukraine
United States — United States Department of Defense related ↔ Ukraine
ERGEN INTELLIGENCE
Track this event live

Set up alerts, explore entity relationships, search across thousands of events, and build custom intelligence feeds.

Open Dashboard

About Ergen

Ergen is a news intelligence platform that converts raw news articles into structured data. It tracks events, entities, and the relationships between them, with sentiment and attention metrics derived from thousands of articles. Pages on this site are daily static snapshots from the platform's live database. For real-time tracking, search, and alerts, the full dashboard is at app.ergen.ai.