"After October 7, I got a slap in the face when I realized how much drones were not part of the system"
Udi Oster, CEO of Aitan, recalls how he realized the critical lack of drones in IDF units after October 7, 2023. This realization led him to establish a war room for equipment supply and develop a unique drone operating system.
On October 8, 2023, while IDF soldiers were fighting Hamas terrorists in the kibbutzim and on the roads around the Gaza Strip, Udi Oster, now CEO of the drone company Aitan (formerly Eyesatop), met a reservist he had not known before. "He arrived in a crumpled uniform at the junction where I was, a few hours after being drafted, and I was waiting for him with a bag containing two private drones I had at home. It was the day after the massacre, and every drone that could reach the battlefield had to get there." This meeting became the entry point for 38-year-old Oster into the drone field.
"Suddenly everyone realized that if a soldier has an observation drone, he sees a kilometer ahead and can understand where the terrorists are. It changes the battle. And suddenly you ask yourself: how can it be that he doesn't have one?" he recalls in an interview with the Calcalist supplement. According to Oster, one of the biggest "slaps in the face" was realizing that units lacked not futuristic technology, but simple civilian drones available in any store.
Transferring his two private drones was only the first step. Soon, Oster joined forces with Alon Dror, CEO of the defense startup Kela, to organize the delivery of drones donated by private individuals in the United States. "Alon was drafted on behalf of MAFAT to bring order to the chaotic flow of donations. We established a war room in Tel Aviv," says Oster. The solution was improvised: volunteers in the US asked passengers flying to Israel to carry black Pelican suitcases containing equipment. Thus, between 3,000 and 4,000 drones arrived in Israel during the two months the war room operated.
When asked why the IDF's emergency warehouses were not stocked with enough UAVs, Oster explains: "The IDF's perception over the years was that there would be no maneuvering, so budgets were directed toward defense and strategic goals." Today, the drone has become one of the most sought-after weapons in the IDF arsenal.
Today, Oster's company is developing a unified operating system to control various types of drones. The startup recently won a major IDF tender. The company's name was changed in memory of Oster's brother, Eitan, a team commander in the Egoz unit, who fell in battle in Lebanon in October 2024. Oster is convinced that the presence of modern technology could have changed the outcome of that battle, in which Or Mansour, Itay Giat, and Nazar Itkin also fell.
"Our slogan is to ensure that IDF soldiers never reach a fair fight, but that they always have an advantage," he emphasizes.
