James Barbieri is an aerospace engineer by training. The technology at the core of WingXpand-–an autonomous aircraft system that folds down small enough to carry in a backpack and expands to eight feet when deployed-–emerged from years of work developing aerial systems for some of the most demanding operational environments in the world.

The problem he kept running into wasn’t technical. It was accessibility.

“A lot of the solutions way back when were transported in huge cases, twice the size of an eight-foot table,” he said. “These systems are too large, too cumbersome, too costly, too complicated to use. What we’ve largely built for some of our highest-end customers, we’re now able to give that capability back to the broader community.”

James Barbieri, Co-Founder & CEO, WingXpand

So, WingXpand rebuilt the capability from the ground up with a different user in mind. Not a dedicated military unit with months of training and a logistics chain behind it. A public safety official who needs to understand what’s happening on the other side of a disaster scene in the next ten minutes.

The xRAI is an Uncrewed Aircraft System that deploys quickly, operates autonomously, and can triage a disaster faster than ground teams can move through it. It detects and senses problems in real time, provides aerial networking to extend signal range during emergencies, and gives incident commanders a picture of conditions that would otherwise take hours to develop on foot.

What makes WingXpand’s position in the disaster resilience space interesting is the lineage of the technology itself. The same capability that was purpose-built for the Pentagon’s highest-end users is now available to the first responder, the emergency manager, the utility crew trying to assess damage across a wide area.

WingXpand is one of seven startups selected for the 2026 Verizon Community Disaster Resilience Innovation Accelerator, powered by MassChallenge. The program connects founders with Verizon’s 5G infrastructure and technical expertise to explore how emerging technologies can support communities before, during, and after disasters.

Inside the Program

This video is one of nine in our Video Impact Series for the Verizon Community Disaster Resilience Innovation Accelerator program, featuring:

• The seven founders in this year’s cohort, on the experiences driving their work
• MassChallenge’s Executive in Residence on what makes this cohort matter
• Verizon on why the program was built

Watch the full series here: Video Series – Verizon Community Disaster Resilience Innovation Accelerator