Shield AI Will Build Its X-BAT Fighter Near Seattle and Fly Every One in Kansas
Shield AI has fixed the factory and flight-test sites for its runway-independent AI-piloted fighter, which has yet to fly and whose production dates do not yet line up.
Shield AI has fixed the factory and flight-test sites for its runway-independent AI-piloted fighter, which has yet to fly and whose production dates do not yet line up.
X-BAT will be built in Des Moines, Washington, south of Seattle, and tested and sustained at Newton City-County Airport in Kansas, Shield AI announced Sept. 30. The sites are designated X-Forge 3 and X-Forge 2.
Every aircraft will complete production acceptance testing in Newton before delivery, the company said. Customers will fly their acceptance flights there, and Newton will handle fleet maintenance, repair and overhaul. X-Forge 1 in Frisco, Texas, stays the prototyping site and V-BAT's home.
Read next — from the Lexicon
Below this point
6 more sections.
Marcus Schuler
Marcus Schuler edits BattlePolicy, a daily defense-technology brief connecting the companies and capabilities behind modern war to the contest among Europe, the US, Russia, and China.