WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force has confirmed that Shield AI is providing mission-autonomy software for Anduril Industries’ YFQ-44A aircraft as part of the service’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft, a flagship effort to field semi-autonomous drones designed to operate alongside crewed fighter jets.
Shield AI’s autonomy platform, known as Hivemind, has been integrated onto Anduril’s YFQ-44A, also called Fury, and is undergoing system-level testing ahead of planned flight demonstrations in the coming months, the companies said. The work is being conducted under the Air Force’s Technology Maturity and Risk Reduction phase, which evaluates competing systems before later acquisition decisions.
Mission-autonomy software allows uncrewed aircraft to interpret high-level instructions from a human pilot and independently execute complex actions, including rerouting around restricted airspace, responding to threats, and adapting to unexpected conditions. The Air Force distinguishes this capability from basic flight-control software, which governs functions such as takeoff, landing, and navigation.
The Air Force said Shield AI’s software complies with its Autonomy Government Reference Architecture, or A-GRA, an open standard intended to allow autonomy systems to be integrated across multiple aircraft without locking the service into a single vendor.
Anduril’s YFQ-44A is one of two aircraft competing in the CCA program. General Atomics is developing a rival aircraft, the YFQ-42A, paired with mission-autonomy software from Collins Aerospace. While General Atomics has already begun flight testing with Collins’ software, Shield AI and Anduril say their first autonomous flight tests are expected soon.
The confirmation publicly reveals a software competition that had remained largely undisclosed since 2024. Air Force officials previously acknowledged that multiple firms were involved in developing mission-autonomy systems but declined to identify them, citing security concerns. The service has now confirmed that Shield AI and Collins advanced to the current phase.
Shield AI was founded in 2015 by Brandon Tseng, Ryan Tseng, and Andrew Reiter, with a focus on developing artificial-intelligence systems capable of operating military platforms with limited human input. Brandon Tseng, a former Navy SEAL, has said the company was motivated by operational gaps observed during combat deployments, where autonomous systems could reduce risk to service members.
The company’s leadership includes CEO Gary Steele, a longtime technology executive who previously led software firms including Splunk and Proofpoint, and Ryan Tseng, who serves as president and chief strategy officer after previously serving as chief executive. Shield AI has grown rapidly in recent years, expanding its autonomy software offerings alongside development of its own aircraft platforms.
Beyond the U.S. Air Force program, Shield AI has continued to expand its international footprint. The company announced this month that it signed a contract with Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology to integrate its Hivemind platform into Taiwan’s unmanned systems, supporting development and operational deployment.
The Air Force has not announced a timeline for selecting final aircraft or autonomy providers for later phases of the CCA program. Officials have said the goal is to build a competitive ecosystem in which autonomy software can be rapidly upgraded and deployed across multiple platforms.
The announcement comes amid growing investor interest in autonomous defense technology. Reuters reported this month that Anduril is in talks to raise new funding at a valuation of at least $60 billion, roughly double its valuation in mid-2025, as the company seeks to expand manufacturing capacity and develop additional autonomous systems.
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