Israeli drone company Airobotics opened its North American headquarters this week in Scottsdale, Arizona, to support its Americas operations and customer BHP, the world’s largest mining company. Airobotics said it plans to expand its Scottsdale team to 80 employees by the end of 2019 and transition the team to its global headquarters.

“We expect Airobotics to be a major player as the AZSkyTech Program continues to make great strides in deployment and usage of UAS,” said Sandra Watson, president and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority.

Ran Krauss, CEO and co-founder of Airobotics, said the company plans to operate its aircraft beyond visual line of sight in the U.S. in support of commercial customers.

Airobotics was the first company to be granted authorization to fly fully automated pilotless drones and is certified by the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel. It has raised $71 million to date and currently employs 200. The company’s industrial quadcopter aircraft have robotic arms, geo-fencing, and emergency recovery parachutes.