Shield AI Selected for US Air Force CCA Program
SHIELD AI has joined the U.S. Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program as a primary autonomy provider. This move solidifies the company's role in developing the AI-powered systems that will enable drones to operate alongside piloted aircraft. The partnership is a key step in advancing the Pentagon's strategy for next-generation autonomous warfare.
- Shield AI's core technology is an AI pilot called "Hivemind," which enables aircraft to operate and make decisions autonomously, even without GPS or communication links. For the CCA program, Hivemind is being integrated onto the YFQ-44A Fury, an unmanned fighter-like drone developed by Anduril Industries. - The CCA program is a competitive effort with two main airframe-autonomy pairings in its first increment: Anduril's YFQ-44A flying with Shield AI's Hivemind, and General Atomics' YFQ-42A "Dark Merlin" flying with Collins Aerospace's "Sidekick" autonomy software. - To accelerate testing of this autonomous software, the Air Force initiated Project VENOM (Viper Experimentation and Next-gen Operations Model), which modifies up to six F-16s to serve as live testbeds for the AI, with a safety pilot in the cockpit. - Anduril's YFQ-44A, using Shield AI's autonomy, recently demonstrated the program's open-architecture approach by successfully switching from Shield AI's Hivemind to Anduril's own Lattice software mid-flight. - The program is moving quickly into weapons integration; Anduril's YFQ-44A has already begun captive-carry flight tests with an inert AIM-120 AMRAAM missile attached. - The Air Force plans to acquire at least 1,000 CCA drones to function as "loyal wingmen," with the assumption of pairing two drones with each of roughly 500 advanced crewed fighters, including the future Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) aircraft. - While not the CCA airframe, Shield AI's own V-BAT drone has combat-proven the Hivemind AI in Ukraine, demonstrating its ability to conduct missions effectively in environments with heavy electronic warfare and GPS jamming.
