Drones depend on GPS to know where they are, and GPS can fail between tall buildings or be jammed and spoofed. Sightec, a Tel Aviv company founded in 2017, uses AI computer vision to let drones navigate by what their cameras see, so they can fly without satellite positioning.
The European Innovation Council granted €2,456,377 towards a €3.53 million project, AUTOFLY, to give logistics drones GPS-free navigation beyond the pilot's line of sight in cities. Today Sightec's website presents its NavSight system as "combat-proven" for drones operating "under jamming, spoofing, and denied environments", and claims more than 4,000 units deployed worldwide.
Company file
- Legal entity
- Sightec (Israel) Ltd., Tel Aviv
- Founded
- 2017
- Product
- NavSight visual navigation: software, payload, sensor module or ground unit
- Clients
- Governments, OEMs, integrators; defence, homeland security, delivery
- Claim
- "Most widely deployed add-on visual navigation system for drones"
- EU status
- Israel is associated to Horizon Europe
- EIC project
- AUTOFLY, 1 Apr 2022 to 31 Dec 2023, closed
- EIC funding
- Blended finance
Where Sightec Stands Today
Sightec's website calls NavSight "the world's most widely deployed add-on visual navigation system for drones, with 4,000+ installations supporting GPS-denied operations worldwide". It says the system is "combat-proven", upgrades platforms "from small tactical drones to high-altitude fixed-wings" with minimal hardware changes, and lists clients among "governments, OEMs, system integrators, and service providers" in "aerospace & defense, HLS, security, and delivery". Its about page refers to "thousands of operational sorties". It names no customers and publishes no funding or revenue.
The Technology: Seeing Where You Are
Visual navigation estimates a drone's position from camera images, either by matching them to maps for an absolute fix or by tracking how the scene moves for relative position. According to the CORDIS report, AUTOFLY "completed our positioning module for daylight (EO camera)" and achieved "a system capable of providing accurate absolute positioning when possible and relative positioning when not". Sightec now also offers day and night operation.
"Combat-Proven Visual Autonomy for Every Drone. At scale."
Sightec website, 2026What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
AUTOFLY promised "GPS-free, beyond the visual line of sight navigation for logistics drones in urban environments". CORDIS reports the daylight positioning module and about four pilot demonstrations, without flight counts, accuracy figures or customers.
- A GPS-free positioning moduleDeliveredDaylight module completed.
- Pilot demonstrationsDeliveredAbout four.
- Urban logistics drone marketNot shownPitch has moved to defence.
- Deployment at scaleDelivered4,000+ units claimed.
What Has Happened Since the Award
The Money
The award was blended finance; we found no EIC Fund investment announced. Sightec publishes no funding rounds, investors or revenue, and Israeli company records were not accessible for this article.
What cannot be checked
Who buys NavSight, how many of the 4,000 units are in military use, Sightec's revenue and whether the EIC took equity are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
The EIC funded this project as civilian technology for delivery drones in cities. The company has since found its market mainly in drones that must keep flying when GPS is jammed, which Sightec calls "combat-proven". That is dual-use technology in practice, and it raises the question of what the EU expects when it funds navigation for drones.
What the project promised
GPS-free navigation for logistics drones flying beyond line of sight in cities.
What the record shows
A visual navigation product with 4,000+ units claimed, sold mainly as combat-proven for GPS-denied operations.
The Verdict
A success, in a different market
AUTOFLY built the navigation module it promised, and Sightec now claims thousands of units in the field. But its pitch has moved from urban parcel delivery to "combat-proven" navigation, and its customers are not named, so the civilian benefit the EU paid for cannot be measured.
Sightec has not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on company statements and EU project data, linked throughout.
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