X-BAT: US and company commitments to Shield AI’s unmanned fighter reach $400 million

The US Navy has added $150 million to its existing agreement for the X-BAT, the vertical-takeoff fighter piloted by artificial intelligence, Shield AI announced on October 8 in a post on X. The company will invest the same amount of its own capital, so announced public and private commitments to the programme reach $400 million, according to Shield AI’s press release.

The modification was made under an existing Other Transaction (OT) agreement. The government funding comes from the office of the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment, through its Defense Exportability Features programme, which is about building exportability and technology protection into systems early in development. In August, a $50 million commitment under the Defense Innovation Unit’s Runway Independent Maritime Expeditionary Strike (RIMES) effort had preceded it, matched by $50 million from the company.

Where development stands

The first test flights are scheduled for later this year. About 500 engineers at Shield AI and its suppliers, among them GE Aerospace, are building the flight-test aircraft. Engine light-off and the integration of the thrust-vectoring nozzle have been completed, and the aerodynamics of the weapons bay have been validated in low- and high-speed wind-tunnel tests. “We are testing early and often,” said Armor Harris, Shield AI’s senior vice president of aircraft.

The X-BAT is designed as a low-observable multirole aircraft that takes off and lands vertically from ships, islands and austere sites, with Shield AI’s Hivemind software as its AI pilot and the ability to operate without GPS and with limited communications.

The Greek dimension

The exportability funding comes as Shield AI has just signed a memorandum with GEK TERNA on an industrial and support base for the X-BAT in Greece.