Kristen Smith
RTX and Shield AI have entered into a partnership focusing on integrating artificial intelligence and autonomy capabilities into select RTX defense products, such as loitering munitions and sensors, to deliver enhanced autonomous capabilities to U.S. and allied defense forces.
Shield AI’s Hivemind will be integrated with defense systems to deploy the first operational weapon powered by networked collaborative autonomy, which fuses real-time coordination, resilience and firepower for teams of launched effects, RTX said Tuesday.
Autonomous Defense Systems for National Defense
The effort, which will be fully funded by the companies, demonstrates their shared commitment to advance the future of autonomous defense systems responsibly, in line with Department of Defense principles.
“RTX’s defense systems paired with Hivemind, which delivers mission autonomy for intelligent, collaborative operations, create powerful new capabilities for the warfighter,” said Gary Steele, CEO, Shield AI. “This collaboration reflects how the defense ecosystem is evolving — bringing the best of autonomy and hardware to bear on national security challenges.”
In line with the partnership, Shield AI’s Visual Detection and Ranging software will be combined with RTX’s Multi-Spectral Targeting System to enable automated AI-based sensor autonomy against maritime and airborne swarm targets. The companies aim to accelerate the productization of the combined technology for current MTS customers.
