AI Autopilot Successfully Coordinates Multiple Unmanned Jets

Shield AI, Inc. has successfully demonstrated its first-ever multi-jet autonomy flights on two Kratos MQM-178 Firejets.

The flight tests featured two autonomous agents piloted by Shield AI’s ‘Hivemind’ AI Pilot. These agents teamed up to perform coordinated maneuvers, demonstrating operationally relevant collaborative behaviors. 

The demonstration highlighted the capabilities of future unmanned jets and drones, with all computing executed on board and in-air agent communication seamlessly integrated.

This builds on multiple AI-piloted Firejet flight tests completed earlier this year, which marked the sixth aircraft to be flown by Shield AI’s Hivemind AI Pilot. 

In June, the team completed its inaugural Live Virtual Constructive (LVC) integration, which bridges live platforms with virtual environments and enables dynamic interactions across different domains.

Brandon Tseng, Shield AI’s President, Co-founder and a former Navy SEAL, commented, “In the next decade, AI pilots will command and maneuver all unmanned systems, enabling the US and our allies to deploy millions of intelligent, resilient drones.

“These Firejet flight tests represent a key milestone on our journey to bring autonomy to the world. What’s awesome is that the algorithms are not limited to the number of aircraft. For test objectives and budgetary reasons, we limited the number of Firejets to 2, but it could have been 4, 8, 16, 32, and so on.”