New Delhi: The Indian Army has signed a deal with American defence technology company Shield AI for procurement of the V-BAT unmanned aerial system that will be manufactured in India.
Shield AI’s V-BAT is a Group 3 unmanned aerial vehicle which can take off and land vertically without runways or launch infrastructure. Powered by a heavy-fuel engine, the aircraft can remain airborne for more than 12 hours and operate in environments where communications and GPS signals are disrupted.
The drones will be equipped with Hivemind, Shield AI’s autonomy software platform that allows aircraft to sense their surroundings, make decisions and complete missions with limited or no human input. The company says the system enables beyond-visual-range operations and allows aircraft to continue functioning even when signals are jammed or it is cut off from operators.
Under the agreement, Shield AI will provide V-BAT vertical takeoff and landing drones along with licences for its proprietary autonomy software, known as Hivemind. The software will be integrated into the aircraft and made available to select Indian partners, enabling local development of autonomous military systems tailored to India’s operational needs.
“India’s selection of V-BAT and Hivemind reflects a clear understanding of the kind of resilient, expeditionary autonomy modern militaries now require,” Sarjan Shah, Shield AI’s managing director for India, said in a statement. He added that the aircraft’s ability to operate without runways and deliver long-endurance intelligence made it well suited to India’s varied geography.
The company has tied up with India’s JSW Defence which in December 2025 started the construction of a manufacturing facility at EMC Maheshwaram, Hyderabad.
This $90 million investment will enable large-scale production of V-BATs in India to serve the needs of the Indian Armed Forces and also function as a global production hub.
Before India, Shield AI had signed a deal with the Japanese Navy on 22 January, calling them “an important ally in the Indo-Pacific region and critical in the regional deterrence efforts”.
From Ukraine to Middle East
Shield AI, based in San Diego, is part of a new generation of US defence startups focused on artificial intelligence and autonomy rather than traditional weapons manufacturing.
Founded in 2015 by Brandon Tseng, a former US Navy SEAL, along with his brother Ryan Tseng and co-founder Andrew Reiter, the company set out to apply advances in AI to battlefield operations at a time when Silicon Valley largely avoided defence work.
Its first product, a small autonomous quadcopter called Nova, was designed to enter buildings and tunnels ahead of soldiers to gather intelligence. While that system saw use in West Asia where it was used in October 2023 by Israeli forces to explore Hamas’ tunnel network below the Gaza Strip. The company later shifted its focus to larger, longer-endurance platforms, acquiring the V-BAT drone in 2021.
The V-BAT has since drawn international attention, in part because of its performance in Ukraine. After initial setbacks caused by Russian electronic warfare, Shield AI spent much of 2024 integrating Hivemind into the aircraft. Ukrainian forces later tested the updated drones in heavily jammed airspace, where they were used to identify air defence systems, military headquarters and drone control sites.
According to the company, V-BAT drones have carried out dozens of missions in Ukraine, helping identify hundreds of targets. In 2025 alone, the drones executed more than 35 missions and identified more than 200 Russian targets in the warzone, according to the company.
The experience has helped propel Shield AI to a reported valuation of $5.6 billion and attracted customers including the US Coast Guard, US Marines and several foreign militaries. The success has also positioned it as one of the hottest defence startups of 2025, Fortune reported.
The company now operates facilities across the US, Europe, West Asia and the Asia-Pacific, and manufactures aircraft at a production site outside Dallas. The India partnership marks one of its most ambitious international expansions to date, combining foreign technology transfer with local manufacturing and software development.
For India, the deal aligns with broader efforts to modernise its military while reducing reliance on imports, particularly in unmanned systems and artificial intelligence technologies that are now reshaping modern warfare.
“India’s selection of V-BAT and Hivemind for the Indian Army reflects a clear understanding of the resilient, expeditionary autonomy required by modern militaries operating across India’s diverse environments. V-BAT’s ability to operate without runways, deliver long-endurance intelligence at the tactical edge, and perform in contested environments makes it uniquely suited to provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) from the Himalayas to India’s oceanic borders,” Shah also noted in his statement.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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