Shield AI has secured a $150 million U.S. Navy contract to advance X-BAT, its autonomous fighter jet for military customers, GeekWire reports. The company will match the award with $150 million of its own capital. The new work focuses on building security and export features into the aircraft so it can eventually be sold to international allies without exposing sensitive U.S. technology.
X-BAT is designed to take off and land vertically, avoiding the runways and carrier catapults conventional fighters require. A mobile launch-and-recovery trailer raises the jet into position and can be towed on highways or loaded onto ships. That would let military operators deploy it from amphibious assault ships, destroyers, cargo decks and highway strips.
The aircraft runs Shield AI’s Hivemind autonomy software, which is intended to pilot tactical strike missions when GPS and satellite communications are jammed. Its planned 1,000-nautical-mile combat radius and 2,000-nautical-mile total range would give naval customers a runway-independent aircraft for missions far from established air bases.
Shield AI is developing the jet and its production system at the same time. About 500 engineers across the company and suppliers, including GE Aerospace, are building flight-test aircraft. The program has completed ground engine ignition, thrust-vectoring nozzle integration and wind-tunnel testing, but X-BAT has not yet made its first flight.
The company plans initial flight tests in Kansas in late 2026 and first production deliveries in late 2028. Manufacturing is expected to begin at a new 420,000-square-foot facility near Seattle, with a target of about 150 jets a year by the early 2030s. The new agreement follows a $100 million Navy and Defense Innovation Unit commitment finalized in August, bringing stated commitments to X-BAT, including Shield AI’s matching capital, to $400 million.
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