US Navy allocates $150 million for AI-powered X-BAT — AeroTime
In the United States, the Navy has provided Shield AI with an additional $150 million for the development of X-BAT, an autonomous combat aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing. The company also plans to invest another $150 million of its own funds in this stage, bringing the total announced investment in the program to $400 million, AeroTime reports.
Preparing for exports
The new funding was provided through the US Department of Defense’s Defense Exportability Features program. It provides for the development of technological solutions that will allow weapons to be sold to US allies without disclosing sensitive American technologies. Program participants generally must independently cover at least half of the costs.
Shield AI has not yet named potential foreign customers for X-BAT, but it is already preparing manufacturing and service infrastructure abroad. The company has signed an agreement with Greek infrastructure group GEK TERNA to explore opportunities for component production, aircraft assembly, and the creation of maintenance facilities in Greece. The parties want to turn the country into a regional hub for supporting X-BAT operators in Southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
An aircraft for ships and remote bases
The US Navy allocated the previous $50 million to Shield AI in August 2026 under the Runway Independent Maritime Expeditionary Strike program. At that time, the company also added $50 million in its own funding. The program envisages the creation of unmanned aerial vehicles capable of carrying 1,000-pound-class munitions over a distance of at least 1,400 nautical miles, or about 2,600 kilometers.
According to Shield AI’s concept, X-BAT will be able to operate from smaller ships, including Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, as well as from remote bases and islands. The company is also considering using the aircraft on aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships. Shield AI states that X-BAT will have a combat radius of 1,000 nautical miles, or 1,852 kilometers, and internal weapons bays for weapons weighing up to 2,000 pounds.
About 500 engineers from Shield AI and its suppliers, including GE Aerospace, are working on the first test prototype. The aircraft is to receive an F110 engine and Hivemind software for autonomous flight, including in conditions of disrupted GPS signals or communications. The company has already conducted an engine run, tested the thrust-vectoring control system, and completed aerodynamic testing of the weapons bays. Shield AI expects X-BAT flight tests to begin by the end of 2026.
