Shield AI — Company Profile & Contracts

FILE · shield-aiOpen-source file · BattlePolicy ProStatus PrivateVerified

Shield AI

Autonomy & RoboticsCombat-fieldedUSPrivate

Shield AI says it supplies V-BAT aircraft and Hivemind military autonomy software and is developing the X-BAT VTOL combat aircraft.

Founded

2015

HQ

San Diego, CA

Headcount

1,200Dec 2025, Fortune

Total raised

$2.54B (2025–26): $240M Shield AI + $300M reported Fortune + $2B equity/preferred Shield AI; excludes separate facility

Valuation

$12.7BMarch 2026

Stage

Series GPrivate

Background

Shield AI was founded in 2015 in San Diego by brothers Brandon Tseng and Ryan Tseng and Andrew Reiter.

Gary Steele became CEO on 13 May 2025 following the appointment announced by Shield AI on 12 March 2025, when Ryan Tseng’s transition to co-founder and president was also announced. Shield AI additionally identified Ryan Tseng as chief strategy officer in October 2026.

Shield AI completed its acquisition of Aechelon Technology on 22 June 2026, adding visual simulation, synthetic environments and physics-based sensor modelling, according to Shield AI. Fortune reported in December 2025 that Nova had been discontinued.

Shield AI said it unveiled X-BAT on 21 October 2025 and announced it on 22 October as a Hivemind-piloted VTOL combat aircraft intended for expeditionary and maritime operations. Shield AI and GE Aerospace announced selection of the F110-GE-129 engine with an Axisymmetric Vectoring Exhaust Nozzle under a November 2025 propulsion collaboration MOU.

X-BAT remained in development and unflown in the October update, when Shield AI said two full-scale prototypes were being built and flight testing was expected by the end of 2026, beginning with VTOL tests.

Shield AI designated X-Forge 2 at Newton City-County Airport, Kansas, for flight testing, acceptance testing and sustainment, and X-Forge 3 in Des Moines, Washington, for production; X-Forge 1 in Frisco, Texas, remains the prototyping site and V-BAT home.

Shield AI’s September site announcement described leased space and site development, with production targeted for 2029, according to Shield AI. GeekWire reported a different schedule on 8 October, placing production and initial deliveries in 2028. The City of Des Moines confirmed selection of Des Moines Creek 2 Industrial Park and described more than $300 million in planned direct investment.

JSW Defence said it began construction of its licensed V-BAT facility at EMC Maheshwaram, Hyderabad, on 2 December 2025, with approximately $90 million covering manufacturing, compliance, licensing and training and manufacturing expected in the final quarter of 2026.

Shield AI announced a wholly owned Indian subsidiary and an operational New Delhi office in April 2026, with a Bengaluru office planned for that summer.

Shield AI and GEK TERNA signed an October agreement to pursue Greek X-BAT parts production, aircraft integration, operating infrastructure, training and sustainment, with definitive workshare and facilities under negotiation.

WZL-2 announced a 12 October MOU with GE Aerospace and Shield AI to explore Polish F110 engine and AVEN nozzle maintenance, repair and overhaul, building on a September letter of intent involving PGZ for possible X-BAT industrial participation.

Latest developments

Linked records

Wired to the rest of BattlePolicy — the systems it builds in the Lexicon and the contracts it wins in the Procurement Tracker. Every link below is a record in our own datasets.

⌖ Lexicon — systems

Shield AI software for Fury autonomous jetprofile
V-BAT (MQ-35) naval UASprofile
V-BAT drone fleet (Aegean)profile

⌖ Procurement — contracts

⌖ Analysis — coverage

Earlier coverage

Financial footing

Shield AI announced $1.5 billion Series G equity at a $12.7 billion post-money valuation, $500 million Blackstone-managed preferred equity and a separate $250 million delayed-draw facility commitment
Its June announcement said the $2 billion equity/preferred package had closed by 22 June 2026, without specifying its closing date, and the Aechelon acquisition completed on 22 June
The U.S. Air Force placed Shield AI in a six-vendor, six-year CCA mission-autonomy production pool on 17 June 2026, with competitive production options for Shield AI, Anduril and Collins Aerospace, continuous A-GRA compliance required and primary Increment 1 provider selection planned for summer 2027
No award value was disclosed
The U.S. Navy announced a $50 million government investment on 13 August, and Shield AI said an 8 October $150 million OT modification and equal company commitments brought X-BAT's announced public/private total to $400 million, comprising $200 million in government funding actions and $200 million in company commitments
Backers: Advent International, J.P. Morgan, Blackstone-managed funds (Shield AI), L3Harris, Hanwha Asset Management, Andreessen Horowitz, U.S. Innovative Technology, Washington Harbour (Shield AI)

Shield AI announced completion of a $240 million Series F-1 financing at a $5.3 billion valuation on 6 March 2025, with participants including L3Harris, Hanwha Asset Management, Andreessen Horowitz, U.S.

Innovative Technology and Washington Harbour. Fortune subsequently reported a $300 million extension at a $5.6 billion valuation.

Shield AI announced $1.5 billion Series G equity at a $12.7 billion post-money valuation on 26 March 2026, led by Advent International and co-led by JPMorganChase’s Strategic Investment Group, alongside $500 million of Blackstone-managed fixed-return preferred equity and a separate $250 million delayed-draw facility commitment.

Shield AI said the $2 billion equity/preferred package had closed by 22 June 2026, without identifying its exact closing date, and that the Aechelon acquisition completed on 22 June.

The $240 million round announced by Shield AI, the $300 million extension reported by Fortune and the $2 billion package described by Shield AI sum to $2.54 billion across those 2025–26 financings, including preferred equity and excluding the separate facility commitment.

Brandon Tseng and CFO Kingsley Afemikhe told Fortune on 26 March 2026 that management forecast more than 80% revenue growth in 2026, implying at least $540 million excluding Aechelon.

In a separate May statement published by Shield AI, Gary Steele said FY26 orders and revenue doubled year over year, without providing absolute figures.

Major customers & contracts

Joined live from the Procurement & Contracts Tracker — real award/announcement records.

Customer	System	Scale / detail	Status
US Air Force	Shield AI software for Fury autonomous jet	—	signed
Poland	V-BAT (MQ-35) naval UAS	about $16 million	signed
Greece	V-BAT drone fleet (Aegean)	—	signed

Further disclosed customers & programs (public reporting):

The U.S. Air Force placed Shield AI in a six-vendor, six-year CCA mission-autonomy production pool on 17 June 2026 and awarded Shield AI, Anduril and RTX Collins Aerospace competitive production options funding the first of two six-month phases.

The Air Force planned primary Increment 1 provider selection for summer 2027, required continuous Autonomy Government Reference Architecture compliance and disclosed no Shield AI award value.

Shield AI said the U.S. Navy selected it to compete for contractor-owned, contractor-operated V-BAT ISR task orders under an $800 million ceiling shared with other selected suppliers.

Shield AI said the Pentagon’s research and engineering organisation selected Hivemind for LUCAS collaborative autonomy, with an operational demonstration planned for autumn 2026 involving one operator supervising a coordinated swarm and humans retaining strike decisions.

The U.S. Navy announced a $50 million investment by its Rapid Capability Office and PAE Aviation, with DIU, on 13 August 2026 for runway-independent maritime expeditionary strike risk reduction with Shield AI.

Shield AI identified the effort as X-BAT/RIMES and announced an 8 October $150 million OT modification plus an equal company commitment; together with the earlier $50 million government action and $50 million company commitment, it said the public/private total reached $400 million, comprising $200 million government and $200 million company commitments. Defense One reported that government payments depend on development milestones.

Shield AI announced V-BAT’s selection for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s shipborne ISR requirement in January 2025, describing multiple aircraft and an intended multi-year stream of increasing orders without disclosing quantities or contract value.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan confirmed Armenia’s acquisition of V-BAT through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales programme at his 9 February 2026 appearance with JD Vance.

In the Armenian prime minister’s official transcript, Vance announced $11 million in surveillance and drone technology sales without itemising the entire amount as a Shield AI award.

Shield AI announced an Indian Army programme covering V-BAT aircraft, Hivemind autonomy licences and Hivemind SDK licences in January 2026, without disclosing aircraft quantities or contract value.

Shield AI announced a June agreement to expand the Hellenic Army’s existing V-BAT fleet for Aegean maritime awareness and plans for an Athens office, without disclosing additional aircraft quantities or procurement value.

Shield AI announced initial V-BAT deliveries to Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration with AIDC in October 2026, saying newly arrived aircraft were presented at Taipei Port on 7 October and 12 aircraft would be delivered over the coming months. The Taipei Times subsequently described all 12 as delivered, conflicting with Shield AI’s initial-delivery account.

Separately, the Taipei Times, citing the defence ministry’s FY2027 report, described Project Yuan Hsiao as a four-year NT$36 billion Navy plan for 280 V-BAT aircraft, 140 control systems and 82 ground transport vehicles, with open bidding planned and Shield AI hoping to win.

Shield AI announced a February 2026 contract supplying Hivemind SDK tools, turnkey integrations and engineering support to Taiwan’s NCSIST.

Shield AI said an August contract expansion followed a demonstration in which three Mighty Hornet III aircraft launched, coordinated search areas, respected a no-fly zone and landed autonomously, without disclosing contract values.

Breaking Defense reported a $16 million Polish Navy agreement signed on 23 June 2026 for several MQ-35 V-BAT platforms, with delivery planned by year-end.

Reuters reported that Romania said its $30 million V-BAT agreement signed in 2025 remained in effect after the May 2026 training injury. The Netherlands Ministry of Defence confirmed the purchase of 12 V-BAT aircraft, with control equipment to be installed across eight ships.

Leadership & contact surface

Leadership: Gary Steele
Official site: https://shield.ai

Contact policy. BattlePolicy maps roles and official, published channels only — who owns a decision and the front door — never individuals’ personal phone numbers, private emails or home details. This keeps the file GDPR-clean and welcome to the companies we profile.

Competitive position

Shield AI competes with Anduril, General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and RTX Collins Aerospace in the six-year CCA baseline mission-autonomy pool established by the U.S. Air Force.

Shield AI, Anduril and Collins also received competitive production options, with primary Increment 1 mission-autonomy provider selection planned by summer 2027, according to the Air Force. The Air Force procures autonomy separately from aircraft and requires continuous A-GRA compliance.

Shield AI’s software partnerships span different stages of integration: Honeywell and Shield AI reported completed multirotor demonstrations, while Shield AI and Innovaero said OWL-B integration was complete ahead of flight testing.

L3Harris and Shield AI reported a completed autonomous electronic-warfare flight test using Hivemind and L3Harris systems. Shield AI is also developing its own VTOL combat aircraft, X-BAT, which remained unflown as the company targeted flight testing by the end of 2026, according to Shield AI.

Battlefield relevance

CBS News, which interviewed Ukrainian naval V-BAT operators, reported that the aircraft supported long-range reconnaissance, identification of air defences and targeting of military, energy and logistics infrastructure. CBS News described a March 2026 Black Sea operation in which V-BAT located activity on a gas-field platform before Ukrainian strikes, attributing target-destruction and monetary-damage figures to Ukrainian sources.

Shield AI said in April that V-BAT had executed hundreds of targeting operations in Ukraine with GPS and communications jammed during every mission; its figure counted targeting activity rather than independently verified target destruction.

The U.S. Coast Guard completed operational testing aboard USCGC Midgett and Stone in late July 2025, with its Research and Development Center verifying identified key performance parameters and finding no critical operational issues during that evaluation.

The Netherlands Ministry of Defence documented initial operational V-BAT sea tests aboard HNLMS Johan de Witt during Cold Response near Norway, including live imagery used to examine objects and possible shipping routes.

Frontex confirmed that two contractor-operated aircraft aboard Dattilo completed 150 flight hours over 19 days from 27 June to 15 July 2026, operated 150 kilometres from the ship and participated in an 8 July search-and-rescue simulation.

Frontex identified Global SAT as prime contractor and Shield AI as subcontractor, while Shield AI identified the aircraft as V-BAT. Shield AI said Italy’s ENAC issued a SORA SAIL III authorisation to operator Global Sat Tech, limited to approved procedures and the designated operating area rather than automatic permission to operate throughout the EU.

Reuters reported that a Romanian Navy official suffered a severe hand injury during V-BAT training off Texas on 12 May 2026 and that Romania’s defence ministry was investigating. Reuters also reported more than 50 losses from an approximately 200-aircraft internal testing and training fleet over 18 months, a February flight pause and whistleblower allegations of concealed flaws and altered reports, without establishing fault for the injury or the allegations as findings.

Shield AI disputed the allegations, attributed the injury to a procedural violation and said customers had experienced 10 operational mishaps since early 2025, according to Reuters. In a June interview published by Shield AI, V-BAT head Jeff Mabry claimed more than 98% lifetime mission readiness, over 13,000 missions and a 100% government safety-audit pass rate, and said mishaps can include repairable damage rather than aircraft destruction.

NAVAIR confirmed an 11 December 2025 Point Mugu demonstration in which two physical BQM-177A aircraft running Hivemind operated with a virtual F/A-18 and two simulated adversaries, with Shield AI serving as lead systems integrator and mission-autonomy provider alongside Kratos and CTSI.

Shield AI and Destinus reported a Hornet flight exercise at Segovia, Spain, demonstrating terrain following, in-flight target updates and terminal manoeuvres on operator command, with transition to Ruta in Ukraine described as a future phase.

L3Harris and Shield AI announced a July 2026 flight test combining Hivemind, DiSCO, Green Wolf and Deceptor, saying electromagnetic-threat information caused autonomous rerouting of follow-on aircraft.

Shield AI and Kraken Technology Group said two Hivemind-enabled K3 SCOUT vessels demonstrated coordinated search, tracking, escort and resumed search in Portsmouth in September 2026.

Shield AI described two-vessel SeaShark 600/800 teaming with Thunder Tiger in Dapeng Bay in an October case study, while attributing an 8.3-fold surveillance-coverage improvement to a separate five-vessel simulation.

Shield AI, Sedaro and NOVI said an August 2026 experiment operated Hivemind aboard one physical satellite in low Earth orbit with five virtual satellites, executing 189 Hivemind-generated, SAFE-approved commands over 24 hours.

Airbus and its Lakota Connector partners announced a fourth autonomous H145 flight-test period covering landing-zone assessment, obstacle detection and diversion within the Marine Corps’ Aerial Logistics Connector rapid-prototyping programme.

Honeywell and Shield AI reported a first autonomous multirotor flight in mid-June 2026, a formal 8 July demonstration in Minnesota and an 8 October two-aircraft mission in Arizona involving target detection, task sharing, payload delivery and return.

Sources & verification

Analyst verdict Pro

⌖ Analyst note · BattlePolicy assessment — judgment, not reporting

The June 2026 Hivemind award makes autonomy procurement central to Shield AI’s commercial case: the U.S. Air Force is buying mission autonomy separately from aircraft.

The six-year baseline pool gives Shield AI access to that market alongside five other suppliers, while competitive options place it with Anduril and Collins in the first of two six-month phases, according to the Air Force. The competitive risk remains inside the same programme: the primary Increment 1 provider will be selected by summer 2027 under the Air Force’s plan.

X-BAT adds a capital and execution test to the software proposition: Shield AI said announced commitments comprise $200 million in government funding actions and $200 million of company capital, while Defense One reported that government payments depend on development milestones.

The aircraft remained unflown as Shield AI targeted flight testing by the end of 2026. Production timing also remains unsettled: Shield AI targeted 2029 in September, while GeekWire reported production and initial deliveries in 2028.

The $12.7 billion post-money valuation announced by Shield AI must be assessed against management’s forecast of at least $540 million in 2026 revenue excluding Aechelon, given to Fortune.

Watch the Air Force’s summer 2027 selection, progress toward Shield AI’s year-end flight target and delivery against the revenue forecast its executives gave Fortune.