An American defence company, Shield AI, has recently unveiled the X-BAT, the ominous-looking autonomous fighter drone seen in the above picture. X-BAT is jet-powered, takes off and lands vertically (VTOL), has a flight range of over 3,700 kilometres (2,000 nautical miles), which is greater than the Lockheed Martin F-35 jet fighter, and reaches heights of more than 15,000 metres (50,000 feet). Its wingspan measures 11.89 metres (39 feet). The length measures 7.92 metres (26 feet), making it about half the size of the F-35. The estimated price is US$30 million, less than a third of the sticker price of an F-35.
X-BAT can be launched and landed almost anywhere, utilizing stealth materials and a design that renders it invisible to radar. It can carry air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles. It’s driven by artificial intelligence (AI), a modular autonomy software platform called Hivemind.
There is autonomy and there is autonomy. NATO defines two types. The first is platform autonomy focused on navigation and flight, communications, takeoffs and landings. The second is mission autonomy, capable of executing tactical decisions and coordination with an accompanying fleet of drones or lead crewed aircraft. Hivemind meets the latter definition.
Hivemind has been under development since 2018. Shield AI began inventing and demonstrating it with an early quadcopter model. Now it is capable of maneuvering an F-16 jet in simulation and live fly tests, pitting Hivemind with crewed jets in dogfights.
The development of X-BAT has taken 18 months. The first demonstration of its VTOL capabilities is expected in 2026, with full flight testing and operational certification complete by 2028.
Shield AI describes X-BAT as the future of a reimagined air force, marking “the greatest transformation in military aviation since the first airplanes launched and landed.” Its VTOL launch and landing capability eliminates the need for airbase infrastructure, runways, and aircraft carriers. It can be used for intelligence gathering, surveillance, reconnaissance, as a jamming platform, or accompanying F-16s or F-35s on a military mission to engage enemy aircraft or strike a ground or sea-based target.
The footprint of the X-BAT is one-third the size of that of an F-35 or helicopter. It uses a proven fighter-class jet engine and delivers performance and maneuverability equal to a crewed jet. Its lifecycle costs are far less than either the F-16 or F-35.
Its design and the open architecture of Hivemind software make the X-BAT capable of evolving to meet future roles not yet contemplated. Shield AI describes the X-BAT as a digital wingman for existing jet aircraft.
Brandon Tseng, a co-founder, President and Chief Growth Officer for Shield AI, served as a U.S. Navy SEAL before starting the company in 2015. He is a mechanical engineer and a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. Tseng’s goal from the outset was to integrate AI and autonomy for military applications to make every single field asset powered, commanded and maneuvered by AI by 2035.
The Hivemind is, in his words, “an homage to one of my favourite video games, StarCraft….a real-time strategy game.” As he envisions it, Hivemind will become mission autonomous in the years to come, able to identify threats and eliminate them. Hivemind’s cognitive abilities within the context of a mission will think for itself. It will operate in environments where communications are jammed and GPS doesn’t work. It will be a foundational aircraft for a next-generation air force containing thousands of drones rather than piloted jets and helicopters. It could mean no longer putting personnel in harm’s way on battlefields.
In his book, Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution, Peter Warren Singer, consultant to the U.S. military, intelligence agencies and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, describes how militaries are removing humans from future wars where technologies will face off on the battlefields of the near future. Shield AI is creating the armed conflicts of the future with X-Bat. Tseng envisions commercial applications for the Hivemind technology being used for urban air transportation, but the real focus of Shield AI is robotic warfare, with us bearing witness to its prequel in the drone battles between Ukraine and Russia happening today.
