R2 Wireless, a company founded 7 years ago in 2019, has raised more than $13 million while its passive RF sensing platform, ODIN, is deployed across Israel’s eastern and southern border areas, supporting the IDF and border police. The company's technology, designed to detect, locate, and identify any device emitting a wireless signal, is being integrated into modern warfare, where conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and Ukraine have accelerated the use of advanced technology, autonomous systems, and RF-based attacks.
Profiting from Perpetual War
Onn Fenig, CEO of R2 Wireless, told Defense & Tech that ODIN was designed to give maneuvering forces wide RF spectrum situational awareness and to let them immediately respond to dynamic threats. The system scans the entire spectrum in real time, identifying everything from drones and IED triggers to smartphones, smartwatches, and wireless headphones. Fenig stated that the war in Ukraine demonstrated how quickly the electromagnetic spectrum became central to battlefield dominance, noting that “Eighty percent of a Russian brigade was eliminated by drones,” and that, along with the recent war with Iran, “it’s a new asymmetric battlefield.” He added, “Sensors and automated platforms have been weaponized,” and, “Now, gunpowder is electronic with RF-based attacks shutting down communication networks. It’s no longer about rockets or bullets.”
Cordell Bennigson, US CEO of R2 Wireless, whose career spans decades in defense, manufacturing, and national-security advisory roles, stated, “defense and national security has always been a service.” He noted that “Everything today is connected, from radio, drones, GPS, to how we share information across computer systems. We see the devices, but not the connections. ODIN allows you to see, and if you can see, then you can see everything. It turns the invisible visible and that’s an incredible advantage.” The $13 million raised by R2 Wireless represents capital accumulation from the development and sale of these advanced military technologies, as the company expands across the United States and Europe.
The State's Electronic Garrison
Bennigson confirmed that R2 Wireless is working closely with multiple US agencies, stating, “The majority of our efforts are with the [United States] Army because they’ve been doing the largest integration drills.” He added that the company has also “had conversations with the [US] Navy, met with the Marine Corps, and shared information with Special Operations.” Fenig stated that ODIN is already deployed across Israel’s eastern and southern border areas, supporting the IDF and border police, and that in Europe, one of its largest customers is a major critical-infrastructure operator. The platform is being evaluated for widespread deployment across US armored brigades and forward-deployed units, demonstrating the state’s role in procuring and integrating private military technology into its apparatus.
Fenig detailed the extensive military-industrial value chain, stating, “We’re 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.” He added, “ODIN gives the overall situational awareness needed to complete the mission.” Bennigson described the situation as “a continuous cat-and-mouse game, a new arms race,” with adversaries constantly seeking vulnerabilities. He also noted that “As we saw throughout the war with Iran, the frontline doesn’t define where security needs to happen,” and, “It needs to happen everywhere. We need to think not only about the frontlines but about what else we want to protect.” This expansion of the perceived battlespace creates new markets for surveillance and defense technology.
Fenig and Bennigson stated they are “democratizing a capability that until now was limited to defense organizations,” a framing that justifies the further market penetration of military-grade surveillance and targeting tools into broader applications and customer bases.