Paladin launches NDAA-compliant Knighthawk 2.0 at World Defense Show, signaling a strategic pivot from DJI dependence

Paladin Drones, the Houston-based Drone as First Responder company that built much of its business on modified DJI hardware, just revealed the Knighthawk 2.0 at the World Defense Show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The new drone is NDAA-compliant, built in partnership with Portuguese NATO-certified manufacturer Beyond Vision, and clearly designed to open doors that DJI-based systems cannot.

The timing tells the story. Paladin is debuting a non-DJI platform at a defense trade show in the Middle East, not at a U.S. police conference. That is a company repositioning itself.

Knighthawk 2.0 specs and what changed from the original

The Knighthawk 2.0 is Paladin’s second-generation autonomous drone purpose-built for emergency response. It is an NDAA-compliant unmanned aircraft with a 40-minute-plus flight time, 4K wide and zoom cameras, 640p thermal imaging, 5G/LTE connectivity, precision GPS, and obstacle avoidance. Paladin claims a 70-second response time from 911 call to scene arrival, down from the roughly 90-second figure the company has cited in previous deployments.

That 20-second improvement matters in DFR operations. According to UAS Weekly, the Knighthawk 2.0 has a top speed above 40 mph and optical zoom capable of reading license plates from at least 200 feet. The sensor suite is described as “significantly improved” over the original Knighthawk, which launched in 2021 with a 10x optical zoom and thermal cameras.

The original Knighthawk was already American-made, but Paladin’s DFR operations have relied heavily on DJI hardware alongside it. The company’s product page still lists the DJI M30T and M350 fitted with its proprietary Paladin EXT LTE module as part of its drone fleet. Many of the departments we have covered, including Stamford, Connecticut, Dublin, Ohio, and Grand Chute, Wisconsin, run Paladin’s software on DJI drones.

The Knighthawk 2.0 gives Paladin a clean supply chain alternative for agencies that need it.

The Beyond Vision partnership opens NATO and international markets

The Beyond Vision partnership is the most strategically significant part of this announcement. Beyond Vision is a Portuguese drone manufacturer certified by NATO, accredited by Portugal’s Ministry of Defense, and ISO9001 certified. The company builds fully autonomous multirotor and hybrid VTOL platforms and has deployed systems with the Portuguese Navy during NATO exercises, including REPMUS 2025, where its drones detected sea mines and tracked submarine trajectories.

For Paladin, this partnership does two things. First, it provides the hardware and manufacturing expertise to produce an NDAA-compliant airframe without relying on Chinese components. Second, it gives Paladin a credible partner for international defense sales. A Y Combinator startup from Houston does not walk into the World Defense Show alone and expect to land defense contracts. Beyond Vision’s NATO credentials change that equation.

Paladin and Beyond Vision are sharing booth N32 in Hall 1 at WDS, which runs February 8-12 in Riyadh. The show is expected to draw 925 exhibitors from 80 countries.

Paladin expands beyond U.S. police departments

The press release names three target markets: the United States, India, and Portugal. Until now, Paladin’s deployments have been almost entirely domestic, with DFR programs in police and fire departments across states including Texas, Connecticut, Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. We have tracked this expansion extensively, from Gainesville PD’s deployment to the SkyeBrowse real-time 3D modeling partnership.

India and Portugal represent completely new territory. India has been rapidly expanding its domestic drone industry, and the country’s massive urban population creates obvious demand for rapid emergency response. Portugal is likely a direct result of the Beyond Vision relationship.

Debuting at a Saudi defense exhibition rather than a U.S. law enforcement conference also signals that Paladin sees the Middle East as a potential market. Gulf states have the budgets and the appetite for advanced security infrastructure.

“Public safety is the backbone of modern civilization. When people do not feel safe, everything suffers. We’re excited to launch Knighthawk 2.0 to help build safer cities, and give any city across the world less than 70 second response time for any emergency,” said Divyaditya Shrivastava, CEO of Paladin.

Context: Paladin’s turbulent year

This launch comes against a complicated backdrop. In December, we reported on a lawsuit between Paladin and its former Vice President of Sales, Khaled Kadah, who alleged the company owed him a $250,000 bonus and unpaid commissions. Court filings included accusations of corporate sabotage and an attempted leadership coup. Paladin disputed the claims, but the litigation exposed internal tensions that at least one investor, Long Journey Fund IV, flagged before committing capital.

The DFR market itself has also grown more competitive. BRINC landed a $2.17 million contract with Newport Beach in February 2025. Skydio is aggressively pushing its X10 platform into DFR programs. And DJI’s own Dock 3, announced in February 2025, brings vehicle-mounted autonomous deployment to the market.

Paladin’s response with the Knighthawk 2.0 is to go where BRINC and Skydio are not yet competing: international defense markets with NATO-compliant hardware.

DroneXL’s Take

This is the most important product announcement Paladin has made since the original Knighthawk launched in 2021. Not because of the specs, which are solid but not revolutionary, but because of what it reveals about Paladin’s strategy.

We have covered Paladin’s growth for over a year, from Stamford’s rooftop DFR program to Grand Chute’s autonomous patrols. In nearly every case, DJI hardware was doing the flying while Paladin’s Watchtower software and EXT module provided the autonomy and LTE connectivity. That model works, but it carries risk. If DJI restrictions tighten further, every Paladin customer running a DJI-based system faces the same vulnerability we outlined in our Ohio DFR analysis.

The Knighthawk 2.0 with Beyond Vision is Paladin’s insurance policy. It gives the company an NDAA-compliant platform to offer agencies worried about DJI bans, and it opens international markets that a DJI-dependent product line never could. The World Defense Show debut is no accident. Paladin is telling the defense world it has a NATO-compatible DFR solution.

The big question is execution. Paladin still has active litigation to resolve, and scaling hardware production through an international partner is harder than bolting an LTE module onto a proven DJI airframe. The company’s website still lists DJI drones alongside the Knighthawk, which suggests the transition will be gradual rather than a clean break.

Expect Paladin to maintain its dual-platform approach through 2026: DJI-based systems for price-sensitive U.S. departments that are not subject to federal restrictions, and Knighthawk 2.0 for agencies that need NDAA compliance or for international defense customers. If the Beyond Vision partnership delivers on manufacturing reliability, Paladin could be one of the few DFR companies with both a domestic and an international product line by year’s end.

Editorial Note: AI tools were used to assist with research and archive retrieval for this article. All reporting, analysis, and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo.