NightDragon Founder Dave DeWalt Joins Kraus Hamdani Aerospace Board of Directors

KHA delivers a next-generation Earth observation, intelligence and analytics platform via medium and high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles

Kraus Hamdani Aerospace (KHA), a leader in ultra-long endurance Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), today announced the appointment of Dave DeWalt as Vice Chairman of its Board of Directors. As a well-respected technology visionary and veteran CEO, DeWalt will help the company deliver on its mission to leverage aerial intelligence and communications to solve large-scale worldwide problems.

DeWalt has more than 25 years of experience leading some of the largest and most impactful technology companies, including as CEO of McAfee, Documentum and FireEye. A skilled operator and transformational growth driver, he now advises and invests in innovative cybersecurity, safety, security and privacy companies as managing director of NightDragon. In addition to serving as the Vice Chair for KHA, he is also an investor and board member in several other innovative companies, including Delta Airlines, HawkEye 360, Premise Data and Claroty.

KHA’s technology is a breakthrough for modern aviation and autonomous robotics. Its unmanned aerial systems are fully electric and leverage AI-based thermal soaring technology to mimic how birds fly long distances, resulting in better battery management and enhanced flight performance. The combination of this proprietary technology is unmanned aerial systems that can fly longer and further than any other system to collect critical data while also solving global connectivity and intelligence problems.

“Kraus Hamdani’s ultra-long endurance unmanned aerial systems bring immediate solutions to some of the world’s most critical challenges, from the fires raging in California, to national security, to the delivery of 5G to rural areas. I am proud to contribute to this mission as Vice Chair and help the company deliver a next-generation intelligence and communications platform to truly better our world,” said DeWalt. 

Some of KHA’s existing applications include solving worldwide problems by providing persistent overhead services to help soldiers remain safe in theater, provisioning rapid emergency communications for disaster relief efforts, enabling search-and-rescue services to assist emergency response efforts, helping anti-poaching efforts to protect the world’s most endangered species and providing geospatial data to assist in slowing climate change.

• DeWalt joins KHA amidst a period of incredible growth, including new projects with Microsoft and Zambezi Partners to utilize critical airborne intelligence for wildlife anti-poaching and conservation projects and with Motorola and Hughes (an Echostar company) to deliver next-generation non-terrestrial communication network infrastructure. Other projects include delivering strategic long-range connectivity for multi-domain military assets to the U.S. Army and partnering with Palantir to provide next-generation Actionable Intelligence to the warfighter. Finally, KHA is leading the path forward for urban airspace deconfliction in partnership with Sagetech and uAvonix.

“Dave’s expertise and vision to provide end-to-end data and intelligence across every realm – sea, land, air, space to cyber – is unparalleled and his experience will be invaluable as we show the world the immense possibilities of our technology,” said Fatema Hamdani, CEO and Founder of Kraus Hamdani Aerospace. “We look forward to partnering with him to accelerate our business growth and capabilities alongside other leading space, air and ground observation and communication companies.”

About Kraus Hamdani Aerospace

Kraus Hamdani Aerospace (KHA) is the world leader in building ultra long-endurance Unmanned Aerial systems (UAS) that mimic nature by utilizing onboard artificial intelligence to silently glide through the air like a bird and generate clean onboard energy. KHA’s K1000ULE is the world’s longest endurance fully electric zero-emissions autonomous unmanned aircraft in its size and weight category. KHA offering comprises aerial-based data, intelligence and communication services to address critical customer needs within various sectors such as emergency and disaster relief, data and telecommunications, defense, agriculture, oil and gas, climate change and wildlife preservation. For more information, visit www.krausaerospace.com.

About NightDragon

NightDragon is an investment firm focused on growth and late-stage investments within the cybersecurity, safety, security and privacy industries. Its platform and vast industry network provide unparalleled threat insights, deal flow, market leverage and operating expertise to drive portfolio company growth and increase shareholder value. The NightDragon team has more than 25 years of operational and market expertise and was founded by Dave DeWalt and Ken Gonzalez, who served as senior executives leading technology companies such as Documentum, EMC, Siebel Systems (Oracle), McAfee, Mandiant, Avast and FireEye.