As modern conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and Ukraine demonstrate the centrality of electromagnetic warfare to military dominance, a growing defense technology sector is rapidly commercializing RF sensing systems that render invisible wireless signals visible—raising questions about oversight, civilian vulnerability, and the democratization of surveillance capabilities beyond traditional military institutions.
R2 Wireless, founded in 2019, has developed ODIN, a passive RF sensing platform that detects, locates, and identifies any device emitting a wireless signal. The system represents a fundamental shift in how modern warfare operates: away from traditional kinetic weapons toward spectrum-based dominance. CEO Onn Fenig told Defense & Tech that the electromagnetic spectrum has become "the connective tissue of modern life," with radio frequencies now the primary arena where drones navigate, improvised weapons communicate, and critical infrastructure is targeted.
According to Fenig, ODIN scans the entire spectrum in real time, identifying everything from drones and IED triggers to smartphones, smartwatches, and wireless headphones. The system operates passively without transmitting, allowing it to function discreetly in contested environments and integrate into any command-and-control system. The platform is already deployed across Israel's eastern and southern border areas, supporting the IDF and border police.
The company has raised more than $13 million and is rapidly expanding across the US and Europe. Cordell Bennigson, the company's US CEO and a retired Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier pilot, said the company is working closely with multiple US agencies, with the majority of efforts focused on the United States Army, which has been conducting the largest integration drills. The company has also had conversations with the US Navy, met with the Marine Corps, and shared information with Special Operations. The platform is being evaluated for widespread deployment across US armored brigades and forward-deployed units.
The Transformation of Modern Warfare
Fenig described a fundamental reordering of conflict dynamics, citing the war in Ukraine as a turning point. He said Ukraine demonstrated how quickly the electromagnetic spectrum became central to battlefield dominance, with Ukrainian forces using cheap, off-the-shelf drones creatively to compensate for smaller budgets. "Eighty percent of a Russian brigade was eliminated by drones," Fenig said, characterizing the emerging pattern as "a new asymmetric battlefield."
He stated bluntly: "Sensors and automated platforms have been weaponized. Now, gunpowder is electronic with RF-based attacks shutting down communication networks. It's no longer about rockets or bullets." This shift reflects broader patterns in conflicts across the region, where advanced technology and autonomous systems have become central to military operations.
Bennigson emphasized the continuous evolution of threats, describing it as "a continuous cat-and-mouse game, a new arms race." He noted that adversaries constantly search for vulnerabilities in defense systems. "Legacy systems do pieces of the puzzle, and once adversaries recognize that, they move to another piece," he said. He argued that ODIN's comprehensive spectrum coverage creates a layered defense: "You can't go around it in the spectrum. And when it's part of a layered defense, you create something strong."
Bennigson also highlighted the geographic expansion of security concerns. "As we saw throughout the war with Iran, the frontline doesn't define where security needs to happen," he said. "It needs to happen everywhere. We need to think not only about the frontlines but about what else we want to protect." This framing suggests that the logic of military spectrum awareness is extending to civilian critical infrastructure and domestic contexts.
Commercialization and Democratization of Surveillance
Fenig and Bennigson stated that they are "democratizing a capability that until now was limited to defense organizations." This language reveals a significant shift: advanced RF sensing technology, previously restricted to military and intelligence agencies, is now being marketed to commercial entities, European critical-infrastructure operators, and multiple US military branches.
In Europe, one of ODIN's largest customers is described as a major critical-infrastructure operator—suggesting that power grids, communications networks, and other essential systems are increasingly being monitored through RF spectrum sensing. Fenig said the company is working with "drones, ground vehicles, C2 nodes, sensors that complement ODIN, communications infrastructure, jamming systems, rockets, machine guns—everyone and everything in the value chain."
Fenig acknowledged the challenge of identifying all potential threats in an increasingly connected world. "We're not even aware of everything we need to protect," he said, adding that "threats evolve at a pace totally different from the past. Traditional SIGINT can't keep up. If you have a communications link, we will catch you."
This expansion of surveillance and detection capabilities into civilian infrastructure and commercial markets raises structural questions about oversight, democratic accountability, and the balance between security and privacy. The shift toward spectrum-based warfare and the commercialization of detection systems means that civilian communications—smartphones, smartwatches, wireless headphones—are now integrated into military and security frameworks designed to identify and target threats.
Bennigson's background as a retired Marine and the company's deep integration with US military and intelligence agencies underscore the close relationship between private defense contractors and government security apparatus. The company's expansion across US armored brigades, Navy discussions, Marine Corps meetings, and Special Operations engagement indicates rapid institutional adoption without public discussion of implications for civilian populations or democratic oversight.
Why This Matters:
The emergence of RF sensing technology like ODIN represents a structural shift in how modern warfare operates and how civilian infrastructure is monitored and protected. As conflicts demonstrate the centrality of electromagnetic spectrum dominance, defense contractors are rapidly commercializing and expanding access to surveillance and detection capabilities previously limited to military and intelligence agencies. The expansion of these systems to critical infrastructure operators, multiple US military branches, and European partners suggests that the logic of military spectrum awareness is extending into civilian domains. The absence of public debate about oversight, civilian privacy implications, and democratic accountability for these increasingly integrated systems raises questions about how societies can maintain civilian control over surveillance infrastructure as technology becomes more autonomous and detection capabilities more comprehensive. The stated goal of "democratizing" these capabilities—making them available beyond traditional military organizations—accelerates this process without establishing corresponding frameworks for transparency, oversight, or public participation in decisions about how spectrum-based surveillance is deployed in civilian contexts.