> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.adriadefense.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # XTEND's Europe Strategy: Latvia, NATO and Autonomous Software - URL: https://www.adriadefense.com/xtends-europe-strategy-latvia-nato-and-autonomous-software/ - Published: 2026-11-05T11:30:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-05T11:29:59.000Z - Description: Israeli-founded XTEND is building a European defense business around its Latvian manufacturing hub, NATO contracts and software integration with Germany's Quantum Systems. The strategy goes well beyond selling drones. - Author: AdriaDefense Desk - Tags: Analysis, Xtend, Latvia, NATO, Drones Israeli-founded defense technology company XTEND is building a presence in Europe that extends far beyond the production of unmanned aircraft. With a manufacturing operation in Latvia, a technology partnership with Germany's Quantum Systems and contracts involving European NATO customers, the company is positioning itself in a market where the software controlling military robots may eventually become as important as the machines themselves. In an interview published on November 4 by *The Jerusalem Post*, XTEND co-founder Rubi Liani described how the company evolved from applying technologies associated with competitive drone racing and virtual reality to solving operational military challenges. His account offered a glimpse of a broader ambition: to develop an operating environment capable of connecting different autonomous systems, allowing military customers to manage increasingly complex robotic operations through common software. The strategy is taking shape at a time when European governments are expanding investments in unmanned systems while placing greater emphasis on industrial capacity, interoperability and the security of their defense supply chains. For companies seeking a lasting position in that market, delivering an effective drone is only part of the challenge. Customers must also consider where equipment is produced, how it will be maintained and whether it can operate alongside systems supplied by other manufacturers. XTEND has spent much of 2026 assembling the industrial relationships and technical capabilities needed to address those requirements. Its most significant steps have taken place in Latvia and Germany, two countries serving different but complementary roles in the company's European expansion. ## A European Industrial Base In July, XTEND announced the completed integration of Atlas Aerospace, a Latvian unmanned systems manufacturer founded in Riga in 2015\. The acquisition, completed earlier in the year, brought an established European engineering and manufacturing organization into XTEND's international operations, along with four intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms and tactical communications technologies. The Latvian business now serves as XTEND's European manufacturing and engineering hub under the XFAB Latvia structure. According to Atlas' corporate information, its operations include 58 employees and approximately 2,400 square meters of manufacturing, integration and testing space. The company reports more than 4,200 deployed systems worldwide and a customer base exceeding 50 organizations. Those figures distinguish the operation from the kind of overseas expansion sometimes announced before any substantial local infrastructure exists. XTEND acquired a functioning manufacturer with its own products, engineering personnel and customer relationships. In August, the company reported that AtlasPRO aircraft and advanced components had been manufactured in Latvia as part of a coordinated production effort across its international factory network. That presence may provide a commercial advantage in Europe, where defense customers increasingly examine production capacity and long-term support arrangements alongside technical performance. A regional manufacturing operation can make it easier to coordinate maintenance, adapt equipment to customer requirements and work with local industrial partners. There are limits to what such an arrangement establishes. Manufacturing inside the European Union does not automatically make a product eligible for every European procurement or defense funding program. Ownership, component sourcing, supply-chain arrangements and the rules of individual programs can all affect eligibility. Even so, the Latvian operation gives XTEND a tangible industrial foundation from which to pursue European customers. Germany represents another part of the company's strategy, one centered less on manufacturing than on the software connecting different military systems. In September, XTEND and the German defense technology company Quantum Systems announced a partnership to integrate XTEND's XOS operating system with Quantum Systems' MOSAIC UXS mission software environment. The companies are working toward an architecture in which reconnaissance aircraft, strike platforms and other unmanned systems can contribute to coordinated operations without being confined to separate, manufacturer-specific workflows. The partners said their cooperation was already supporting an autonomous systems program for an undisclosed European NATO customer. Their public announcements described ongoing integration work and demonstrations, although they did not establish that every planned capability had reached operational maturity. The relationship became more visible in October during Quantum Systems' Forward Edge 26 exercise in central Germany. The two-week event brought together aerial, ground and maritime unmanned systems, with participation from technology and industrial partners including XTEND, Volkswagen and Daimler Truck. Quantum Systems demonstrated coordinated operations through its MOSAIC UXS environment, illustrating the kind of interconnected military robotics architecture that the partnership is intended to support. For XTEND, the significance extends beyond participation in another European defense exercise. Working with an established German supplier offers access to a wider network of military customers and industrial partners, particularly those looking to acquire integrated capabilities rather than individual aircraft. ## The Business Beyond the Drone At the center of XTEND's ambitions is XOS, the company's operating system for autonomous machines. XTEND describes the software as hardware-agnostic, designed to connect robotic platforms, artificial intelligence applications and human operators within a common environment. Liani's comparison of military robotics with the evolution of smartphones is revealing. In consumer technology, operating systems and software ecosystems became commercially important partly because they allowed devices to support applications developed by others. XTEND is pursuing a comparable concept in robotics, although the technical demands and security requirements of military operations are considerably more complex. The company is developing an XOS Marketplace and an associated certification program intended to help manufacturers and software developers connect compatible platforms, sensors, payloads and applications. Some of the proposed distribution capabilities remain under development, and the initiative should not yet be regarded as a fully established commercial marketplace. Its potential importance lies in the relationships that software can create between different systems. A military organization might purchase aircraft from one manufacturer, ground robots from another and specialized sensors from a third. Making those systems work together can be expensive and technically demanding, particularly when each product uses different control interfaces and communications arrangements. A common software environment could reduce some of that complexity. It could also create new dependencies, making the reliability, cybersecurity, licensing and long-term support of the operating system central considerations for military buyers. That question is especially relevant in Europe, where governments are seeking both access to advanced technologies and greater control over the systems on which their armed forces depend. An operating environment capable of connecting several suppliers' products may offer operational advantages, but customers will still need to understand who maintains its software, controls its interfaces and authorizes changes to its capabilities. XTEND's commercial progress suggests that its strategy is supported by more than technology demonstrations. In August, the company announced a multi-year agreement with the defense ministry of an undisclosed European NATO member, with a potential value of approximately $15 million. Around $4.5 million was secured for the first year, while the remainder of the announced value depends on subsequent commitments. The company has not identified the customer or publicly established whether the agreement is connected to the separate European NATO program being pursued with Quantum Systems. XTEND has also expanded its military business in the United States. In October, it announced a $40.5 million order for 6,000 STRIKER systems following its participation in the U.S. Drone Dominance Program's Gauntlet II evaluation. The award represents a substantial manufacturing opportunity, though it should not be interpreted as confirmation that all the systems have been delivered. Together, the European and American agreements provide evidence of growing procurement activity. They also raise the practical challenge that accompanies rapid expansion in defense technology: moving from successful evaluations and individual contracts to sustained production, reliable delivery schedules and long-term customer support. The increasing sophistication of autonomous systems adds another layer of complexity. XTEND describes its approach as human-guided autonomy, in which software carries out defined tasks while human operators retain supervisory responsibilities. In an October 26 shareholder letter, chief executive Aviv Shapira stated that humans retain authority over decisions to engage targets. The distinction matters as artificial intelligence becomes more capable of navigating unfamiliar environments, identifying objects and coordinating movements without continuous manual input. Liani also acknowledged in his November interview that unpredictable battlefield conditions can expose limitations in AI systems, particularly when circumstances differ from the data on which algorithms were trained. For military customers, the relevant measure of autonomy will not simply be how much work a machine can perform independently, but how reliably its behavior can be understood, supervised and controlled. XTEND has publicly described its principles for human authorization, although evaluating the technical safeguards implemented across individual products would require more detailed examination. The company now faces a broader commercial test in Europe. Its Latvian operation provides manufacturing capacity and regional engineering expertise. The partnership with Quantum Systems offers a potential route into integrated European military programs. Existing defense contracts demonstrate customer interest, while XOS provides a software architecture around which the company hopes to build a larger network of compatible technologies. Whether these elements can develop into a durable European business will depend on execution. Manufacturing operations must meet customer expectations, software integrations must perform reliably and industrial partnerships must lead to repeatable procurement programs rather than remain limited to demonstrations. XTEND's approach nevertheless reflects a consequential shift in the defense technology market. As armed forces adopt greater numbers of autonomous platforms, procurement decisions increasingly extend beyond aircraft performance to encompass software, industrial support and the ability of different systems to operate together. For XTEND, the opportunity is to become a supplier across all three areas. For European defense customers, the larger question is who will build, maintain and ultimately control the technological infrastructure on which future unmanned operations depend. --- **Sources and further reading:** [XTEND's Atlas integration announcement](https://xtend.me/xtend-completes-the-integration-of-atlas-expanding-its-xos-ecosystem-across-europe/?ref=adriadefense.com), July 27, 2026; [Atlas Aerospace](https://atlasuas.com/atlas/about?ref=adriadefense.com); [Quantum Systems and XTEND partnership](https://quantum-systems.com/news/quantum-systems-xtend-autonomous-systems-partnership/?ref=adriadefense.com), September 10, 2026; [XTEND shareholder letter](https://xtend.me/letter-to-investors/?ref=adriadefense.com), October 26, 2026; [The Jerusalem Post interview](https://www.jpost.com/podcast/article-913840?ref=adriadefense.com), November 4, 2026.