Shield AI’s Hivemind Pilots Three Unmanned Aircraft During Technology Demo

Drone software developer Shield AI said on Wednesday that it has completed a demonstration of its Hivemind AI pilot dictating the coordination and teamwork of three V-BAT unmanned aircraft systems.

Shield AI’s V-BAT is a tactical-level, vertical take-off and landing unmanned aircraft system flying like a helicopter but also with the forward travel capability of a fixed-wing aircraft.

According to the company, the demonstration concludes an autonomy effort under the Strategic Funding Increase program of AFWERX, a technology directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Department of the Air Force’s innovation arm.

Shield AI secured the AFWERX task in January 2022.

In the demonstration, the three-drone team showed capabilities in multiple detect, identify, locate and report missions in a simulated wildfire scenario, Shield AI said. The AFWERX work puts V-BAT on track for teaming deployment possibilities in GPS and communications-denied environments by 2024, according to the company.

Shield AI was established in 2015, and its Hivemind AI pilot has flown an F-16 fighter jet and a quadcopter called Nova.