Shield AI has revealed details about the X-BAT autonomous drone armed with missiles

The company showed in pictures a test of a drone with streamlined surfaces designed to reduce the radar visibility of the system, as well as a large jet engine. It will be able to take off and land vertically, as well as transition to horizontal flight, and belongs to the 5th group of UAVs, the largest according to the US classification. The video also showed his potential weapons.

In one frame, a Lockheed Martin long-range anti-ship missile lit up, and in the second, two advanced RTX AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missiles. Installation of a complex of radio-electronic warfare is also under consideration. As the head of the Shield AI aircraft division, Armor Harris, said, several options for power plants are being considered for the X-BAT.

It may receive an F-16-class engine with an afterburner and thrust vectoring nozzle that were originally developed for the F-15 program in the late 1990s. Shield AI plans to equip the X-BAT with a Hivemind computer controller, which will ensure autonomous operation of the UAV in conditions of lack of communication. If desired, an artificial intelligence system from other suppliers can be installed on the drone.

Hivemind is already being tested on a variety of UAVs, from the General Atomics MQ-20 to the Kratos BQM-177A and the Airbus H145. The company hopes to conduct the first tests with vertical takeoff and landing in the fall of 2026, with full flight tests scheduled for 2028. Harris did not give a specific price, but noted that the X-BAT will be on par with other CCAs (Collaborative Combat Aircraft).

This is an entire program of development of UAVs designed to work in tandem with manned aircraft such as the F-35. Although Shield is the developer of the system, company representatives have openly announced the involvement of a partner to participate in the direct production of X-BAT. The companies intend to officially announce the cooperation in the coming weeks. In an interview with The Warzone, Armor Harris shared that the X-BAT will have a length of 26 feet (7. 9 m), a wingspan of 39 feet (11.

8 m), and a height of 14. 3 m. The jet engine will provide a maximum flight range of 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km) and a practical ceiling of about 15 km. It combines the capabilities of a fifth-generation fighter such as the F-35 or a similar fifth-generation fighter equipped with vertical takeoff and landing. At the same time, its cost is ten times lower. "Thus, the cost curve is broken.

This allows us to compete with Chinese fifth- and sixth-generation aircraft by offering something that costs many times less," said Harris. Shield AI already produces V-BAT drones, which were tested in the war in Ukraine. It can work in conditions of suppression of communications and is used for securing aircraft. In April, they wrote about a new version of V-BAT drones with a heavy-fuel engine, which increases its flight duration by more than 13 hours.