Safe Pro Group Appoints Decorated SOCOM Joint Acquisition Task Force Commander, Colonel (Ret.) Jarret Mathews as Chief Operating Officer
Rhea-AI Summary
Safe Pro Group (Nasdaq: SPAI) appointed Colonel (Ret.) Jarret Mathews as its first Chief Operating Officer, effective April 6, 2026. Mathews brings 25+ years of special operations, defense acquisition, and AI/ML integration experience to accelerate Safe Pro's government contract capture strategy.
He previously led the Joint Acquisitions Task Force at U.S. Army Special Operations Command, served in the Pentagon and CENTCOM liaison roles, and was a special advisor to Safe Pro for six months.
Positive
- Experienced leadership: 25+ years in special operations and defense acquisitions
- First COO appointment formalizes operational leadership
- Direct SOCOM experience: led Joint Acquisitions Task Force integrating AI/ML
- Six months advisory tenure prior to appointment indicates transitional continuity
Negative
- Appointment does not itself guarantee conversion of technology pipeline into awarded contracts
- No quantified revenue, contract awards, or timelines disclosed to measure near-term impact
News Market Reaction – SPAI
On the day this news was published, SPAI declined 0.24%, reflecting a mild negative market reaction. Argus tracked a peak move of +4.4% during that session. Argus tracked a trough of -13.5% from its starting point during tracking. Our momentum scanner triggered 8 alerts that day, indicating moderate trading interest and price volatility. This price movement removed approximately $225K from the company's valuation, bringing the market cap to $93.59M at that time.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
Key Figures
Market Reality Check
Peers on Argus
Momentum scanner flags SPAI trending down while peers like SPCE, VWAV and CODA show +3.45%–12.24% upside. With peers moving higher and no same-day peer news, the setup looks stock-specific rather than a broad Aerospace & Defense move.
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 01 | Govt AI support order | Positive | +5.0% | Contract modification for continued AI Edge Processing support under U.S. Government subcontract. |
| Mar 25 | Advisory board hire | Positive | +1.4% | Appointed former Anduril executive to advisory board to accelerate government capture. |
| Mar 17 | Army TiC 2.0 exercise | Positive | +5.6% | Completed U.S. Army TiC 2.0 exercise using SPOTD and NODE for threat detection and mapping. |
| Mar 02 | AI system delivery | Positive | +7.8% | Fulfilled $1,000,000 subcontract for AI edge systems within 15 days of award. |
| Feb 25 | AI demo event | Positive | +12.7% | Planned demo of integrated AI capabilities at U.S. Army Autonomous Breach event. |
Recent AI- and defense-related announcements have consistently drawn positive 24h reactions, suggesting the market has rewarded contract wins, demos and government validations.
Over the last two months, SPAI has issued a series of U.S. Government–focused AI updates, including a rapid $1,000,000 AI edge-processing delivery on Mar 2 and multiple TiC 2.0 exercise milestones. Management and advisory appointments on Mar 25 supported its government capture push. Each of these five events produced positive next-day moves between 1.4% and 12.74%, framing today’s COO appointment as another step in that strategy.
Regulatory & Risk Context
An effective-date S-3 shelf filed on Nov 7, 2025 registers up to 2,000,000 resale shares from the October 2025 PIPE. The company itself is not selling shares and would not receive proceeds from these stockholder resales. The shelf has 0 recorded usages and expires on Nov 7, 2028.
Market Pulse Summary
This announcement adds an experienced SOCOM acquisitions commander as SPAI’s first COO, supporting its push to convert a growing AI and defense pipeline into contracts and revenue. It follows multiple recent U.S. Government wins and demos that previously drew positive price reactions of up to 12.74%. Investors may watch for evidence of contract conversion, progress toward $5–$20 million revenue milestones, and how management leverages existing PIPE and resale structures.
Key Terms
ai technical
machine learning technical
socom technical
global war on terror (gwot) technical
centcom technical
ballistic protection products technical
drone-based services technical
situational awareness technical
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
Veteran of 25+ Years in Special Operations, Strategic Acquisitions, and Advanced Technology Integration Joins Safe Pro as Company Accelerates Government Contract Pipeline
AVENTURA, Fla., April 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Safe Pro Group Inc. (Nasdaq: SPAI) ("Safe Pro" or the "Company"), a developer of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled defense, security, and situational awareness solutions, today announced the appointment of Colonel (Ret.) Jarret Mathews as its first Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Colonel Mathews brings more than 25 years of operational leadership, defense acquisition expertise, and advanced technology integration experience to Safe Pro as the Company accelerates its government contract capture strategy for its patented AI and computer vision solutions, ballistic protection products, and drone-based services.
Prior to retiring from the US Army, Colonel Mathews served as Director of the Joint Acquisitions Task Force within U.S. Army Special Operations Command (SOCOM), where he led the development and integration of AI and machine learning (ML) technologies and drove acquisition reform initiatives to accelerate SOCOM's innovation pipeline. Colonel Mathews’ distinguished career includes serving in the Special Operations command in the Global War on Terror (GWOT) across the Middle East and Central Asia, assignment to the Pentagon, commanding of the Yakima Training Center, and holding a senior liaison role supporting U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) with strategic international partners.
His appointment is a direct outgrowth of Safe Pro's strategy to deepen its defense sector relationships and convert its technology pipeline into awarded contracts and revenue.
Dan Erdberg, Chairman and CEO of Safe Pro Group, commented: "Over the past six months as a special advisor, Jarret has demonstrated exceptional leadership, enhanced our operational execution capabilities, and brought unique insights into the evolving procurement needs of the U.S. military. His appointment as COO reflects our confidence in both his expertise and in the significant contract opportunities we see ahead."
Colonel Mathews added: "I am committed to helping Safe Pro's teams execute at the highest level and, most importantly, to delivering value to our current and future customers and government partners. The momentum building around our solutions in the defense and commercial markets is real, and I look forward to contributing to its acceleration."
About Colonel Mathews
Colonel Mathews holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a master’s degree in Global Affairs from the University of Kansas. He brings deep expertise at the intersection of national security, defense procurement, and emerging technology — directly aligned with Safe Pro's core markets.
The Company’s Safe Pro Object Threat Detection (SPOTD) AI platform analyzes imagery and video from virtually any drone to automatically detect and classify explosive threats and other objects of interest. The platform converts raw video into high-resolution 2D/3D geospatial models that can be rapidly shared to support operational decision-making in defense, security, and humanitarian missions. SPOTD is capable of identifying more than 150 types of landmines and UXO, enabling scalable situational awareness across large, high-risk areas. SPOTD has been deployed in active operational environments in Ukraine for over three years and is supported by a growing proprietary dataset comprising over 2.6 million analyzed images, more than 47,800 identified threats, and coverage of approximately 32,800 acres.
For real-world detection data, visit: https://safeproai.com/landmine-detections/
Inducement Grant
In connection with Colonel Mathews' appointment, the Compensation Committee of the Company's Board of Directors approved the grant of 20,000 inducement shares of the Company's common stock pursuant to Nasdaq Rule 5635(c)(4), as a component of his employment compensation and as an inducement material to his acceptance of employment with Safe Pro Group.
Information about Safe Pro Group, its subsidiaries, and technologies, please visit https://safeprogroup.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X.
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/.
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements relate to future events, future expectations, plans and prospects. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limitation, Safe Pro’s ability to secure new contracts with the U.S. Army and government and the acceptance of its solutions by potential government, military and humanitarian organizations. Although Safe Pro Group believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date made, expectations may prove to have been materially different from the results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Safe Pro Group has attempted to identify forward-looking statements by terminology including ''believes,'' ''estimates,'' ''anticipates,'' ''expects,'' ''plans,'' ''projects,'' ''intends,'' ''potential,'' ''may,'' ''could,'' ''might,'' ''will,'' ''should,'' ''approximately'' or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including market and other conditions. More detailed information about the Company and the risk factors that may affect the realization of forward-looking statements is set forth under Item 1A. in the Company’s most recently filed Form 10-K and updated from time to time in the Company’s Form 10-Q filings and in other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), copies of which may be obtained from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of its date. Safe Pro Group undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release to reflect events or circumstances occurring after its date or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.
Media Relations for Safe Pro Group Inc.:
Investor Contact:
Ankit Hira, Managing Director
Solebury Strategic Communications for Safe Pro Group Inc.
spai@soleburystrat.com
