Anduril, Shield AI and Collins have been tapped to develop the autonomy system for the collaborative combat aircraft.

Other military roles for the drone cover armed scouting, surveillance, crewed-uncrewed teaming as well as acting as a “mothership” for air launched effects, according to the European prime.

Shield AI has been selected to integrate Hivemind on the LUCAS drones, enabling them to coordinate and operate intelligently in a swarm. Shield AI’s Hivemind autonomous flight software will be integrated onto the U.S.-made Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) One-Way Attack (OWA) drone, the company announced on May 19, 2026. Shield AI was selected […]

The company says it will integrate its Hivemind software on the drones, with plans to demo its swarming capability later this year.

Shield AI and Thunder Tiger Corp. announced a memorandum of understanding to integrate Shield AI’s Hivemind autonomy software across Thunder Tiger’s unmanned systems portfolio, beginning with unmanned surface vessels (USV). As a first milestone, Hivemind will serve as the AI pilot on a Thunder Tiger USV, with a live demonstration planned for this summer. This ...

The post Shield AI expands…

Check out a selection of photos from the show floor.

Shield AI announced its selection by the United States Navy to provide contractor-owned, contractor-operated (COCO) intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) services in support of naval and joint force operations. Shield AI press release Under the Navy’s initiative to expand and modernize ISR capabilities, Shield AI will compete for up to $800 million in task orders alongside other…

“While the aircraft was flying, the software was queued up so that we could have different companies’ behaviors take control of the platform and fly [it],” said Dan Salluce, Northrop’s senior director for aerospace systems.

Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, in partnership with Shield AI, L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX), and Parry Labs, completed its fourth autonomous flight test on the H145 Airbus helicopter and successfully integrated all four company’s technologies into a single aircraft together for the first time. Airbus U.S. Space & Defense press release The test flights, which ...

The post Airbus and Lakota…

Despite the absence of customers, the companies are hoping that the demonstration could tempt European air forces looking for cUAS solutions that can reduce reliance on crewed aircraft.

The Talon IQ testbed conducted combat air patrol and target engagement maneuvers controlled by ShieldAI’s Hivemind AI, before switching back to Northrop Grumman’s Prism AI. Northrop Grumman and Shield AI announced on Mar. 19, 2026, that the Talon IQ autonomy testbed aircraft, based on the Model 437 Vanguard developed by the former’s subsidiary Scaled Composites, […]

The YFQ-44A CCA switched between Shield AI’s Hivemind and Anduril’s Lattice AIs during the same flight, completing tasks with both. Anduril Industries’ YFQ-44A Fury Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) flew with Shield AI’s Hivemind and Anduril’s own Lattice autonomous flight programs, both companies announced on Feb. 26, 2026. Notably, the drone also switched between software mid-flight, […]

Anduril Industries flew its YFQ-44A Collaborative Combat Aircraft with not one, but two different mission software systems Feb. 24, an Air Force official revealed at AFA’s Warfare Symposium.

The post Anduril CCA Switches AI Pilots Midflight appeared first on Air & Space Forces Magazine.

AURORA, Colo. — Shield AI takes us inside their new AI-piloted VTOL fighter jet, dubbed the “X-BAT,” at the 2026 Warfare Symposium. The X-BAT will be capable of launching and recovering from ships, remote islands, or austere forward bases while...

The post WATCH: Inside the ‘X-BAT,’ the World’s First AI-Piloted VTOL Fighter Jet appeared first on Air & Space Forces Magazine.

Mission autonomy software by Collins and Shield AI was integrated on the YFQ-42 and YFQ-44 CCAs by using the government-owned A-GRA architecture. The U.S. Air Force has reached a new milestone in its Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, demonstrating that government-owned Autonomy Government Reference Architecture (A-GRA) can be successfully integrated with mission autonomy software. As…

The Air Force has selected Collins Aerospace and Shield AI to develop the software Collaborative Combat Aircraft will use to fly missions alongside manned fighters, the service revealed Feb. 12—and drone-maker General Atomics was quick to announce it has already flown its YFQ-42A aircraft with Collins’ system.

The post Air Force Working with Collins, Shield AI to Build Autonomy Software for CCAs…

[Sponsored] Continuation of UAS operations in contested and GPS-denied environments is key.