Shield AI to Provide Autonomy for USAF Program
Shield AI has been selected as a mission autonomy provider for the U.S. Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. The company's Hivemind autonomy software will be integrated into Anduril's Fury aircraft. This decision places Shield AI's technology at the center of the Air Force's next generation of autonomous combat jets.
- The Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) initiative is a large-scale U.S. Air Force program aiming to acquire at least 1,000 unmanned, autonomous aircraft to fly alongside manned fighters like the F-35 and the next-generation NGAD platform. - The Air Force has projected spending $5.8 billion on CCA research and development through fiscal year 2028, with a total of $9 billion planned by the end of FY2029 to get the fleet operational. - Anduril is one of two companies selected for the first increment of the program; the other is General Atomics with its YFQ-42A prototype. Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman were the other defense contractors that competed for the initial phase. - The Anduril Fury aircraft, designated YFQ-44A, is a jet-powered drone designed to fly at speeds up to Mach 0.95, reach an altitude of 50,000 feet, and withstand up to 9 Gs. - Shield AI's Hivemind software acts as an AI pilot, enabling aircraft to execute missions autonomously, including in GPS- or communications-denied environments. It has been tested on several other aircraft, including the F-16 and MQ-20 Avenger. - The CCA program is a core component of the Air Force's broader Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative, which is a "family of systems" designed to ensure air superiority. - The Air Force intends to make a final decision on which company will produce the first increment of aircraft in fiscal year 2026, with the goal of fielding a fully operational capability before 2030. - Beyond the USAF, Shield AI's Hivemind has been selected by international partners; Singapore will integrate it for drone swarm coordination, and Taiwan's top defense research institute is using it to develop its own autonomous drone capabilities.
