CODiAQ outlines AI-enabled targeting system

Skyborne Technologies’ CODiAQ is not a newly disclosed concept so much as a newly advanced one. The company said on May 11 that the armed quadruped system had received a U.S. “Limited Safety Release,” allowing it to move into Operational Test & Evaluation and combat evaluations with U.S. Special Operations Command and a partnered foreign ally. Skyborne first publicly unveiled CODiAQ on October 13, 2025, describing it as a “Controller-Operated Direct-Action Quadruped” built around modular weapon payloads and AI-assisted targeting software. The company said then that the system was designed for remote direct fire and ballistic breaching and could be operated by a single user with a handheld controller. (finance.yahoo.com) The recent social-media summaries pointing to an “AI-enabled targeting system” track closely with Skyborne’s own description. Company materials say CODiAQ combines a quadruped robotic platform, electro-optical targeting hardware, onboard computing, and modular payloads including 40mm and 12-gauge systems. ### What exactly is CODiAQ? CODiAQ stands for Controller-Operated Direct-Action Quadruped, according to Skyborne Technologies. (skybornetech.com) The system is an armed unmanned ground platform built for integration on Ghost Robotics’ Vision 60 quadruped, with Skyborne providing the weapon payloads and its EXITUS AI targeting software. Skyborne said the system is intended to give a single operator remote control over a mobile weapons platform. In its October 2025 launch announcement, the company said CODiAQ integrates AI target recognition, ballistic computing, day-and-night targeting capability and modular payload options branded HAVOC 40mm and CHAOS 12GA. ### What does the AI do in this system? (finance.yahoo.com) Skyborne’s October 2025 description said the “Targeting Electronics Optical Box” provides onboard computing for day and night operations and supports “AI Targeting & Ballistics.” The company also said the system can rapidly engage multiple targets and operate in rugged terrain, wooded areas and urban environments, including staircases. (skybornetech.com) The May 11 release added that the lethal payload capability is paired with EXITUS AI targeting software and described the system as incorporating “operator in the loop control.” That wording is significant because it indicates Skyborne is presenting the targeting functions as human-supervised rather than fully autonomous weapons release. (skybornetech.com) ### Has the U.S. military bought it? Skyborne said the current effort is backed by a $6.5 million firm-fixed-price research, development, test and evaluation contract. The company said the award covers delivery of 14 quadruped robotic systems and 28 modular weapon payloads, plus 24 months of sustainment, maintenance and training support. (markets.businessinsider.com) Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland was the site of independent government safety testing conducted by the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Center, Skyborne said. The company said that testing validated key safety requirements against department standards before the system was cleared to move into the next evaluation phase. (finance.yahoo.com) ### What has not been announced? Skyborne has not publicly disclosed a procurement schedule beyond the evaluation effort, and the available materials do not set out a fielded unit designation or broad deployment timeline. The company’s October 2025 announcement said CODiAQ was being rolled out to U.S. government partners, but it did not identify operational units or contract delivery dates at that time. (finance.yahoo.com) Publicly available descriptions also do not provide detailed rules-of-engagement software logic, sensor specifications, or independent government assessments of targeting performance. Most of the detailed claims currently in circulation come from company statements and press-release summaries rather than a formal Pentagon program announcement. (skybornetech.com) ### What comes next in the program? Michael J. Trexler, identified by Skyborne as a government program manager, said tactical operators are due to receive CODiAQ systems and new-equipment live-fire training in October 2026. The May 11 release said those activities would support Operational Test & Evaluation and combat evaluations with USSOCOM and a partnered foreign ally. (finance.yahoo.com) AUSA in Washington was the venue where Skyborne said it would display CODiAQ when it first launched the system in October 2025. The next concrete milestone now publicly named is the October 2026 training and evaluation window tied to the current U.S.-funded contract. (skybornetech.com) (finance.yahoo.com)