KORTHOS / ECOSYSTEM / PRODUCT

X-BAT

About

About X-BAT

X-BAT is a jet-powered vertical-take-off combat aircraft designed to combine fighter-like range and altitude with runway-independent deployment. Shield AI lists a maximum range beyond 2,000 nautical miles, operating altitude above 50,000 feet and manoeuvring above four times gravitational acceleration, with internal bays and external hardpoints for mission payloads.

Hivemind is intended to let X-BAT aircraft collaborate with crewed fighters and other autonomous systems without continuous communications, GPS or direct remote piloting. Proposed roles include air-to-air, air-to-surface and electronic-warfare missions from ships, dispersed land sites and conventional bases. First flight is targeted for 2026, with production planned for 2029.

06 MAR 2026

Shield AI is turning autonomy software into a defence aircraft company

Capabilities

Source-backed capabilities

  • Capability areas: Remote operation
  • Workflows: Combat Aircraft UAV, Drone ISR
  • Operating environments: Defence operational environment
  • Deployment model: Autonomous defence aircraft designed for combat and support missions without runway dependence.
  • VTOL transition flight

    Claimed - Shield AI presents X-BAT as an AI-piloted VTOL combat aircraft for contested environments, using Hivemind autonomy for autonomous tactical missions.

    Source
  • Autonomous strike mission

    Claimed - Shield AI presents X-BAT as an AI-piloted VTOL combat aircraft for contested environments, using Hivemind autonomy for autonomous tactical missions.

    Source

Supply

Supply / Components

  • X-BAT autonomous aircraft prototype

    F110 Engine And Aven Nozzle - subsystems - GE Aerospace - GE Aerospace supplies engine and thrust-vectoring-nozzle integration for X-BAT autonomous aircraft prototype - source: shield.ai

    Source

Timeline

  • Shield AI receives $150 million Navy modification for X-BAT

    2026-10-08 - Contract Award - The modification supports Defense Exportability Features through the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment. A separate August action and matching company commitment bring announced public and private X-BAT commitments to $400 million. Flight testing is scheduled for later in 2026; engine light-off and thrust-vectoring nozzle integration have been completed.

    Source
  • Shield AI and GEK TERNA sign MoU for Greek X-BAT industrial base

    2026-10-08 - Partnership - Shield AI would lead the aircraft programme and provide autonomy software and mission systems; GEK TERNA would coordinate local suppliers and a Greek programme office. The proposed hub would support training, logistics and maintenance for Greece, Cyprus, the Balkans and southeastern Europe. Workshare, facilities and detailed roles remain under negotiation in definitive agreements.

    Source
  • Shield AI and GE complete X-BAT engine-integration milestone

    2026-07-20 - Demonstration - The milestone confirmed engine operation in the integrated X-BAT propulsion configuration. The team also completed integration of the aircraft’s thrust-vectoring nozzle. The release describes preparation for vertical flight; it does not claim that X-BAT had completed that flight test.

    Source
  • Shield AI and GE Aerospace collaborate on X-BAT propulsion

    2025-11-05 - Partnership - The work connects GE Aerospace propulsion engineering with Shield AI’s autonomous VTOL aircraft programme. The agreement follows Shield AI’s October 2025 public unveiling of X-BAT. The partners framed propulsion integration as a programme-development step, not a completed flight demonstration.

    Source
  • Shield AI unveils X-BAT autonomous VTOL aircraft

    2025-10-22 - Product Launch - Shield AI unveiled X-BAT as an AI-piloted VTOL fighter aircraft for contested operating environments. The aircraft is positioned above V-BAT in Shield AI's portfolio and is tied to the company's Hivemind autonomy stack. The launch expands Shield AI's public roadmap from tactical ISR aircraft toward a more advanced autonomous combat-aircraft program.

    Source

Context

Market context

AI-piloted VTOL combat aircraft for contested environments, designed for launch and recovery from ships, remote islands, and austere forward bases, built around Hivemind mission autonomy for autonomous and collaborative operations.

  • Target environment: Contested airspace, austere operating sites, ships, islands and distributed defence locations.
  • Workflow context: Vertical takeoff, autonomous flight, crewed-uncrewed teaming, mission autonomy and contested-air operations.
  • Deployment model: Autonomous defence aircraft designed for combat and support missions without runway dependence.
  • Commercial maturity: Publicly unveiled autonomous aircraft with VTOL testing planned from 2026 and operational validation targeted later in the decade.
  • Adoption constraints: Requires flight testing, airworthiness, defence integration, mission-system validation and production readiness.
  • Market position: Runway-independent autonomous aircraft extending Shield AI's Hivemind autonomy into larger combat-air systems.
  • Adjacent products: Autonomous VTOL aircraft for combat support, distributed operations and uncrewed airpower.

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