US EditionShield AI’s Unmanned Fighter Jet Concept Pitched as a Drone Wingman or Solo Aircraft
Shield AI's X-Bat features AI pilot Hivemind, 2,000-mile range, and VTOL for under $27 million, aiming to revolutionize autonomous combat jets.
- On Oct. 22, 2025, Shield AI unveiled X-BAT, an AI-piloted VTOL fighter jet, at an event in Washington, D.C., with CNBC gaining exclusive access ahead of the launch.
- Shield AI's Hivemind autonomy software underpins X-BAT, enabling flight in communications-denied environments and allowing operation as a standalone asset or digital wingman, company officials said.
- The jet features VTOL and a fighter-class engine, with modular payload bays for ISR, electronic warfare and precision strike, fitting three X-BATs in one legacy fighter or helicopter deck space.
- Armor Harris, senior vice president of aircraft at Shield AI, said initial VTOL demonstrations are expected by fall 2026 with full testing in 2028 and partnerships announced in the coming weeks.
- Amid Washington's push for drone dominance, Shield AI pitches X-BAT as an affordable, attritable fighter to expand resilient fleets amid the Unleashing American Drone Dominance executive order and the U.S. Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Shield AI reveals VTOL autonomous fighter jet dubbed X-BAT
Defense tech startup Shield AI has entered the market for loyal wingman drones with its new vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) uncrewed fighter jet called X-BAT. Unveiled on Tuesday during an event in Washington, X-BAT is a Group 5 unmanned aerial vehicle that the company is pitching as an option for one of the many robo-jet programs under development across the Pentagon. The aircraft’s body — which features a low-signature airframe design and …
This is the world’s first vertical take-off AI-piloted fighter jet
San Diego-based Shield AI is developing a first of its kind fighter jet: a 2,000-mile-range pilotless plane that takes off and lands vertically and uses artificial intelligence to fly itself, even when adversaries jam navigation and communication systems. Like the company’s smaller, combat-tested autonomous drone, the V-BAT, the X-BAT doesn’t need a runway, allowing it to launch from remote islands or the decks of aircraft carriers or drone shi…
Defense startup announces world’s ‘first autonomous fighter jet’
At a swanky Tuesday night event in Washington, DC, defense tech start-up ShieldAI announced what it describes as the world’s “first autonomous fighter jet.” The stealth plane, known as the X-BAT, “has the ability to organically close its own kill chains without reliance on third party assets,” bragged ShieldAI executive Armor Harris, adding that it can carry “the full arsenal of air-to-air, surface strike, [and] air-to-ground weapons.”The goal, …
Shield AI Unveils X-BAT, an AI-Piloted VTOL Fighter Jet for Contested Environments
WASHINGTON, Oct. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Shield AI today announced the unveiling of X-BAT, an AI-piloted, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) fighter jet designed for expeditionary and maritime operations in contested environments.
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