Joint Development of Qualcomm-Based Edge Compute Solutions Delivers Real-Time, On-Device Threat Detection for Drones and Unmanned Systems (UAS) — Without Reliance on the Cloud
IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lantronix Inc. (Nasdaq: LTRX), a global leader in compute and connectivity IoT solutions powering Edge AI applications, today announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and a Master Services Agreement (MSA) with Safe Pro Group Inc. (Nasdaq: SPAI) (“Safe Pro”), a developer of AI-enabled defense and security solutions. The agreements establish a scalable framework for the joint development, integration and commercialization of new embeddable chipsets that strengthen the emerging ecosystem of Qualcomm®-based drone and autonomous vehicle platforms.
“Lantronix is at the center of an expanding ecosystem in which payload, compute and connectivity come together to power the next generation of unmanned and autonomous systems,” said Saleel Awsare, president and CEO of Lantronix. “Our partnership with Safe Pro Group furthers this vision, bringing AI-enabled threat detection directly to the edge. Together, we are shaping the future of real-time intelligence where our technology becomes the trusted foundation for defense and autonomous platforms worldwide.”
Under the agreements, Lantronix will integrate the Safe Pro Object Threat Detection (SPOTD) AI algorithms and models with its Qualcomm-based Open-Q™ System-on-Module (SOM) solutions. This integration will deliver real-time, on-device detection of landmines and small threats without requiring reliance on cloud connectivity. This architecture improves latency and resilience and enhances mission-critical security, advancing the performance of next-generation unmanned systems.
“Lantronix is empowering real-time intelligence at the edge for a wide array of defense and commercial applications, creating immediate synergies for Safe Pro Group,” said Dan Erdberg, chairman of Safe Pro Group Inc. “We look forward to working with the Lantronix team and leveraging their proven experience in supporting critical defense contracts, such as Red Cat’s Teal drones, as we scale our proprietary computer vision technologies to meet the needs of defense users around the world.”
Lantronix and Safe Pro will collaborate on several defense and commercial drone programs, including Red Cat Holding’s Teal Black Widow™ quadcopters used by the U.S. Army’s Short-Range Reconnaissance (SRR) program (see press release here). The partnership further extends the ecosystem by integrating SPOTD outputs into the U.S. Army’s Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) platform via Lantronix secure gateways, enabling scalable distribution of actionable intelligence across vehicles, command posts and soldier devices.
With the global drone market projected to reach $57.8 billion by 2030 (Drone Industry Insights’ 2025–2030 Global Drone Market Report), Lantronix’s presence in the secure defense and commercial drone segment creates multi-year, high-margin growth opportunities.
Lantronix Open-Q™ 5165RB System on Module
Based on the powerful Qualcomm® Dragonwing™ QRB5165 System on Chip (SOC), Lantronix’s Open-Q™ 5165RB System on Module (SOM) is an ultra-compact (50mm x 29mm), production-ready computing module. Coupled with the latest Wi-Fi® 6 connectivity, advanced camera features and high-speed interfaces, the 5165RB SOM is the ideal computing core for AI-enabled drones and UAVs, embedded vision platforms, face and object detection and recognition, autonomous systems and other power-efficient Edge AI computing solutions.
Product Highlights
- SOM with powerful specialized processing cores
- On-device Qualcomm AI Engine™ for machine vision, neural networks and deep learning
- Power-efficient Edge AI computing solution pushing 15 TOPS
- Ubuntu Linux® with support for Robot Operating System 2.0
- Container and accelerator APIs, including Docker, TensorFlow Lite, NNAPI and others
Investor Highlights
- Accelerates Lantronix’s Edge AI strategy within defense, security and autonomous systems markets
- Expands a high-value ecosystem of platforms standardizing on Lantronix compute modules
- Creates scalable revenue opportunities through AI compute modules and defense-grade deployments
- Builds on existing U.S. Army-aligned platforms, reducing commercialization risk and time to market
- Delivers differentiated on-device AI with real-time threat detection and no cloud dependency
About Lantronix
Lantronix Inc. (Nasdaq: LTRX) is a global leader in Edge AI and Industrial IoT solutions, delivering intelligent computing, secure connectivity and remote management for mission-critical applications. Serving high-growth markets, including smart cities, enterprise IT and commercial and defense unmanned systems, Lantronix enables customers to optimize operations and accelerate digital transformation. Its comprehensive portfolio of hardware, software and services powers applications from secure video surveillance and intelligent utility infrastructure to resilient out-of-band network management. By bringing intelligence to the network edge, Lantronix helps organizations achieve efficiency, security and a competitive edge in today’s AI-driven world. For more information, visit the Lantronix website.
About Safe Pro Group Inc.
Safe Pro Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SPAI) is a mission-driven technology company delivering AI-enabled security and defense solutions. Through cutting-edge platforms like SPOTD, Safe Pro provides advanced situational awareness tools for defense, humanitarian, and homeland security applications globally. It is a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions specializing in drone imagery processing, leveraging commercially available “off-the-shelf” drones with its proprietary machine learning and computer vision technology to enable rapid identification of explosives threats, providing a much safer and more efficient alternative to traditional human-based analysis methods. Built on a cloud-based ecosystem and powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), Safe Pro Group’s scalable platform is targeting multiple markets that include commercial, government, law enforcement and humanitarian sectors where its Safe Pro AI software, Safe-Pro USA protective gear and Airborne Response drone-based services can work in synergy to deliver safety and operational efficiency. For more information on Safe Pro Group Inc., please visit https://safeprogroup.com/.
“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws, including, without limitation, statements concerning growth expectations in the global drone market and Lantronix’s positioning to capitalize on opportunities for long-term, high-margin growth in the drone and defense technology markets. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results, future business, financial condition, or performance to differ materially from our historical results or those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement contained in this news release. The potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, such factors as the effects of negative or worsening regional and worldwide economic conditions or market instability on our business, including effects on purchasing decisions by our customers; our ability to mitigate any disruption in our and our suppliers’ and vendors’ supply chains due to changes in U.S. or foreign government trade policies, including recently increased or future tariffs, a pandemic or other outbreaks, wars and recent conflicts in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, or other factors; future responses to and effects of public health crises; cybersecurity risks; changes in applicable U.S. and foreign government laws and regulations; our ability to successfully implement our acquisitions strategy or integrate acquired companies; difficulties and costs of protecting patents and other proprietary rights; the level of our indebtedness, our ability to service our indebtedness and the restrictions in our debt agreements; and any additional factors included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on Aug. 29, 2025, including in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of Part I of that report, as well as in our other public filings with the SEC. Additional risk factors may be identified from time to time in our future filings. In addition, actual results may differ as a result of additional risks and uncertainties about which we are currently unaware or which we do not currently view as material to our business. For these reasons, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements we make speak only as of the date on which they are made. We expressly disclaim any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date hereof to conform such statements to actual results or to changes in our opinions or expectations, except as required by applicable law or the rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC. If we do update or correct any forward-looking statements, investors should not conclude that we will make additional updates or corrections.
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