Shield AI X-BAT 001: first full-scale prototype of its vertical-takeoff combat drone is built

Shield AI has completed X-BAT 001, the first full-scale prototype of its AI-piloted combat aircraft, designed to take off and land vertically so it can fly from ships, islands or remote sites without a runway. Built in Frisco, Texas, it is being moved to the company's X-Forge 2 test site at Newton City-County Airport in Kansas.

It runs on a GE Aerospace F110 engine with a thrust-vectoring nozzle and Shield AI's Hivemind autonomy software. Shield AI says it will carry weapons up to the 2,000-pound class in internal bays, with an objective combat radius of 1,000 nautical miles.

Why it matters

It hasn't flown yet. Shield AI plans horizontal and then vertical engine runs, crane-supported hovering, and only then untethered flight. The range and payload figures are company targets that flight tests still have to prove.

About the footage: Not flight footage: Shield AI's video shows X-BAT 001 being moved from Frisco to Kansas, not flying. It has not flown yet.

Sources

• Interesting Engineering: First full-scale X-BAT combat drone prototype
• Inside Unmanned Systems: Shield AI completes first X-BAT prototype
• Shield AI: Kansas and Washington named X-BAT flight test and production homes
• TWZ: Prototype X-BAT VTOL 'fighter' drone unveiled

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Summarized by Servospace from the sources above, drafted with AI help and checked against those sources before publishing. Claims are the companies' or outlets' unless we say otherwise. How we work.