The autonomous vertical take-off and landing combat jet will make a maiden sortie towards the end of 2026.
AI and autonomy developer Shield AI has now almost completed the first three test assets for its X-Bat collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) programme as it builds towards a first flight later this year.
Speaking to FlightGlobal at the Eurosatory defence exhibition in Paris where the company displayed a one-fifth scale mock-up of the jet-powered platform, Andrew Hawkes, director, X-Bat campaigns – Europe, said two prototypes are now complete with a third “in the final stages of assembly”.
While numerous ground tests remain, Hawkes says the first flight is “expected at the back end of this year”.
Shield AI will conduct the maiden sortie from its facility in Newton, Kansas – a former US government test range acquired by the company.
Fit-out of that site is now ongoing, he says. With the early X-Bat flights to be launched from a rail car to simplify aspects of the flight testing, construction at the facility includes laying rail lines.
Those first flights will also be tethered – a rarity for a jet-powered aircraft – as the company seeks to validate the vertical take-off and landing performance of the X-Bat, including its recovery by the launch-rail system.
Control in that orientation comes from the vectored thrust of the main engine and additional wingtip thrusters, backed up by Shield AI’s Hivemind autonomous control software.
“What we are really after is data – that’s the whole point of the test campaign at the back end of this year; we want to validate our modelling,” he adds.
Shield AI will then proceed to traditional wingborne testing and envelope expansion during the early part of 2027, followed by avionics and weapons integration during the latter part of the year.
Hawkes says the developer is targeting initial combat capability for the X-Bat by 2029.
Although acknowledging the timeline is ambitious, “it is achievable with the plan and the resources we have in place”.
Powered by a single 30,000lbf (133kN)-class GE Aerospace F110 engine – the same powerplant as the Lockheed Martin F-16 – the stealthy X-Bat will be able to carry two weapons on external hardpoints, with additional munitions in its conformal weapons bay.
Hawkes says it will be able to accommodate cruise missiles up to the size of the Kongsberg Joint Strike Missile or MBDA Storm Shadow.
“[That payload] gives us the edge against the rest of the CCA space,” he says.
There has been strong interest from potential customers, particularly operators of the Lockheed F-35, he adds, with Shield AI in “advanced discussions with several nations”.
While declining to be more specific “we will have an announcement really soon,” Hawkes says.
Recent remarks from Polish president Donald Tusk suggested that Shield AI has promised to open an X-Bat final assembly line and F110 engine maintenance facility in the country if it orders the CCA.
Shield AI’s Hivemind software is currently flying with the Anduril YFQ-44A autonomous fighter prototype, among numerous other uncrewed platforms.
The US company is currently working to integrate its autonomy software with one-way attack munitions, specifically the Pentagon’s new Low-Cost One-Way Attack System (LUCAS) drones.
Demonstrations are planned for later this year.
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