Shield AI. Shield AI is an American aerospace and arms technology company based in San Diego, California. It develops artificial intelligence-powered fighter pilots, drones, and technology for military operations. Its clients include the United States Special Operations Command, US Air Force,  US Marine Corps, US Navy and several international militaries.

The company’s small-unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) Nova became the first AI-powered drone to be deployed for military purposes in US history.

History
Shield AI established in 2015 is an arms and artificial intelligence technology startup founded by former-Navy Seal Officer Brandon Tseng, his brother Ryan Tseng, and Andrew Reiter in San Diego, California. According to David Ignatius, writing for The Washington Post, ex-Navy SEAL Brandon got the startup idea while fighting in Afghanistan. In one of the missions, his unit suffered casualties in the Uruzgan province due to poor reconnaissance of a hostile building. The founding team began operations with a seed fund of $100,000 gathered from friends and family. They began building a prototype of their flagship Nova drone in 2015.

In 2016, Shield AI received its first contract, one from the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) autonomy program. As part of this contract, Nova was first deployed for reconnaissance and combat assistance in the Middle East in 2018.

In 2021, the company received a $7.2 million contract from the US Air Force for its small-unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS). It later acquired arms contractor Heron Systems and aerospace company Martin UAV for undisclosed amounts. Over the years, it has received funding from venture capitalist firms such as Andreessen Horowitz, Breyer Capital, and Silicon Valley Bank. 

In June 2022, following a $165 million funding round, the company was valued at $2.3 billion.

In 2022, the company received another contract from the US Air Force, through the Pentagon’s AfVentures Strategic Funding Increase (AFWERX-STRATFI) Program. FedScoop reported the contract to be worth $60 million. In July 2022, it was chosen as one of several companies to aid the US Air Force for its Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) program.

In 2022, the company opened an office in the United Arab Emirates under retired Navy SEAL vice-admiral Bob Harward. The United States Sixth Fleet included the subject in its "Digital Horizon" sea exercise in Bahrain in November 2022 to demonstrate unmanned and artificial intelligence capabilities.

In October 2023, the company raised $200 million at $2.7 billion valuation, co-led by U.S. Innovation Technology Fund (USIT) and Riot Ventures.

In April 2024, the company announced its acquisition of Sentient Vision Systems, an Australia-based leader in AI-enabled real-time situational awareness, and the establishment of its presence in Australia. 

In June 2024, the United States Coast Guard awarded a contract worth up to $198.1 million to provide UAS capability that can be deployed from Coast Guard cutters for five years.

In August 2024, the U.S. Navy’s Strike Planning and Execution program (PMA-281) and Aerial Targets program (PMA-208) announced its partnership with Shield AI to integrate autonomy and artificial intelligence software into the BQM-177A sub-sonic aerial target, marking a significant milestone in furthering autonomous systems for real-world applications in naval aviation. In the same month, Shield AI successfully completed a multi-jet aircraft autonomy flight with two Kratos MQM-178 Firejets.

In November 2024, Shield AI announced its partnership with JSW Defense and Aerospace to manufacture V-BAT drones in India. The partnership included a $90 million investment for technology transfer, the establishment of a manufacturing facility, and compliance programs to support local and international production demands. 

In December 2024, Shield AI and Palantir Technologies Inc. signed an agreement for a new strategic partnership, a step toward developing autonomous flight with AI-powered intelligence and operational control.

Technology
Shield AI employs machine learning and artificial intelligence to develop military software and tools. It developed Nova, an autonomous quadcopter drone, and Hivemind, its autonomy and artificial intelligence stack in 2015. This  software helps drones and aircraft maneuver autonomously in GPS- and communication-degraded environments. Its products are used for reconnaissance in close-quarters combat and solving problems like room-clearing and fatal funnel.

Nova is an autonomous quadcopter drone categorized as a UAS that runs using lidar technology and can navigate in GPS-agnostic environments. When used in military combat missions, the drone can enter a hostile building and send its photos and maps to a unit of soldiers to help them better navigate it. Nova and Hivemind have since been used by the US Special Operations Command for reconnaissance and combat operations. According to WIRED’s Elliot Ackerman, this was likely the first time an AI-powered drone of that scale was being used in combat in US military history. The Wall Street Journal called it “the first autonomous robot of its kind used in combat”. In 2021, the company released Nova 2.

Shield AI develops AI-powered vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft called V-BAT through its acquisition of Martin UAV. In 2022, Brazil ordered a batch of V-BATs for its defense unit. The company has also developed a drone swarming capability called V-BAT Teams, which enables a single human operator to command a minimum of four V-BAT drones. 

The V-BAT has been operationally deployed in multiple regions, including the Black Sea, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. It has demonstrated its resilience in challenging environments, including areas with advanced electronic warfare (EW) threats, such as those in Ukraine. Notably, V-BAT has proven its capability to withstand EW attacks that have downed many other UAVs, making it a critical asset for long-range missions.

In December 2022, as part of the DARPA Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program, a collaboration between DARPA, the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, and the Air Force Research Lab, Shield AI's algorithm flew on the X-62A VISTA at Edwards Air Force Base. In May of 2024, Frank Kendall III, the United States Secretary of the Air Force flew in the backseat of the X-62A while it was autonomously flown by Shield AI's AI algorithm. The ACE Team was a finalist for the 2023 Collier Trophy, ultimately losing out to the OSIRIS-REx mission to retrieve a sample from an asteroid and return it back to Earth.

References 

Aerospace companies of the United States
Unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturers
2015 establishments in California
American companies established in 2015
Defense companies of the United States