Indian Army and Shield AI Sign Deal for V-BAT Unmanned Aerial Systems

Key facts

• The Indian Army signed an agreement with the United States (US) defence technology company Shield AI for the procurement of the V-BAT unmanned aerial system (UAS).
• The V-BAT is a Group 3 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) without the requirement for runways or launch infrastructure.
• Powered by a heavy-fuel engine, the aircraft has an endurance of more than 12 hours and can operate in environments where Global Positioning System (GPS) signals are disrupted.
• The drones will be equipped with Hivemind, an artificial intelligence (AI) autonomy software platform that enables beyond-visual-range operations with limited human input.
• Shield AI has partnered with India-based JSW Defence to establish a manufacturing facility at EMC Maheshwaram in Hyderabad, Telangana.
• The 90 million US Dollar investment will enable large-scale production of V-BATs in India to serve the Indian Armed Forces and function as a global production hub.
• Construction of the Hyderabad manufacturing facility by JSW Defence commenced in December 2025.
• The V-BAT drones have been utilised in the Ukraine conflict to identify air defence systems, military headquarters, and drone control sites.
• In 2025, the drones executed more than 35 missions and identified over 200 Russian targets in the Ukraine warzone.
• Shield AI previously signed a deal with the Japanese Navy on 22 January 2026 for regional deterrence efforts in the Indo-Pacific.
• The company was founded in 2015 by Brandon Tseng, a former US Navy SEAL, along with Ryan Tseng and Andrew Reiter.
• Other customers of the V-BAT system include the US Coast Guard, US Marines, and several foreign militaries.
• The company's first product, an autonomous quadcopter called Nova, was used by Israeli forces in October 2023 to explore tunnel networks in the Gaza Strip.
• Shield AI has a reported valuation of 5.6 billion US Dollars as of 2025.