Palladyne AI Corp. (NASDAQ: PDYN and PDYNW) (“Palladyne AI”), a U.S.-based defense and industrial technology company delivering embodied AI-powered collaborative autonomy solutions, advanced avionics, precision-manufactured components, UAVs, and advanced aerospace engineering services, today announced that retired Lt. Gen. Sean Bernabe and retired Brig. Gen. Gwyn Armfield have joined the Company’s Defense Advisory Board.
The appointments come as Palladyne AI scales its defense business in response to accelerating Department of War investment in autonomous and collaborative unmanned systems. Together, Bernabe and Armfield bring complementary experience across large-scale Army operations, Air Force special operations, coalition warfare, and the integration of advanced technology into warfighter hands. Their input will shape how Palladyne AI develops and fields its SwarmOS, BRAIN, and IntelliSwarm platforms.
“Lt. Gen. Bernabe and Brig. Gen. Armfield bring firsthand understanding of what it takes to deliver mission effect at the tactical edge, exactly the problem Palladyne AI is built to solve,” said Ben Wolff, President and CEO, Palladyne AI. “As the Department of War commits historic resources to autonomous and collaborative unmanned systems, their experience leading complex military organizations and pushing advanced technology into operator hands is invaluable as we scale.”
Most recently, Bernabe served as Deputy Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, helping oversee operations across Europe and Africa supporting more than 43,000 military and civilian personnel across 133 locations. He also brings practical defense technology experience across artificial intelligence, robotics, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), counter-UAS, integrated air and missile defense, and command-and-control systems.
Armfield retired from the United States Air Force after nearly three decades of service. He served as U.S. Central Command Vice Director for Strategy and Plans, Deputy Commanding General for U.S. and Coalition Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan, and commanded special operations units at the squadron, group, wing, and Special Mission Unit levels.
“In the environments I’ve commanded, where communications are contested, networks are degraded, and adversaries adapt in real time, autonomy can’t depend on a connection back to the cloud. It must live on the platform,” said Bernabe. “Palladyne AI is building exactly that, with American-made hardware behind it. I look forward to supporting the Company and the warfighters who will ultimately depend on these systems.”
“In special operations and coalition missions, the technology that wins is the technology operators can actually use, at speed, under pressure, in places where the network won’t save you,” said Armfield. “Palladyne AI’s bet on edge autonomy, collaborative systems, and U.S.-built defense capability lines up with what today’s fight actually requires.”
For more information on Palladyne AI’s embodied AI, autonomous systems, and U.S. manufacturing capabilities, visit www.palladyneai.com.
About Palladyne AI Corp.
Palladyne AI (NASDAQ: PDYN) is a U.S.-based defense and technology company delivering patented embodied artificial intelligence, collaborative autonomy solutions, advanced avionics, autonomous systems, and precision-manufactured components for defense and industrial markets. Through its GuideTech engineering services subsidiary and its manufacturing companies, Palladyne AI operates as a vertically integrated platform capable of executing across the full value chain — from component production and systems integration to autonomy software and mission-level orchestration.
Palladyne AI’s embodied AI is designed to operate in complex, contested, and high-risk environments, enabling distributed tasking, human-on-the-loop decision-making, degraded-communications resilience, and multi-domain coordination. Its platform-agnostic autonomy stack combines real-time sensor fusion, adaptive AI models, and edge-native orchestration — without vendor lock-in — across air, ground, maritime, and industrial domains.
Palladyne Defense, the company’s defense contracting division, is positioned as a mid-tier U.S. technology prime, bridging advanced autonomy, practical engineering, and American manufacturing to bring intelligent systems into active service faster and more cost-effectively than legacy approaches. Palladyne Defense delivers software, components, subsystems, and complete loitering munition systems aligned with the Department of War’s growing demand for cost-effective, rapidly deployable, and domestically produced capabilities.
All Palladyne AI platforms are American-developed and operated, designed to meet the stringent requirements of U.S. government customers, including data sovereignty, security, and compliance. For more information, visit www.palladyneai.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the capabilities or future capabilities of Palladyne AI’s technology and products; future U.S. defense spending; and U.S. defense needs and the ability of Palladyne AI’s technology and products to meet those needs. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Generally, statements that are not historical facts, including statements concerning possible or assumed future actions, business strategies, events, or results of operations, are forward-looking statements. These statements may be preceded by, followed by, or include the words “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “projects,” “forecasts,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “plans,” “scheduled,” “anticipates,” “intends” or “continue” or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results, or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Palladyne AI’s management’s current expectations and beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events. However, there can be no assurance that the events, results, or trends identified in these forward-looking statements will occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Palladyne AI is not under any obligation and expressly disclaims any obligation, to update, alter or otherwise revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.
Readers should carefully review the statements set forth in the reports which Palladyne AI has filed or will file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), in particular the risks and uncertainties set forth in the sections of those reports entitled “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” for a description of risks facing Palladyne AI and that could cause actual events, results or performance to differ from those indicated in the forward-looking statements contained herein. The documents filed by Palladyne AI with the SEC may be obtained free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
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