Shield AI V-BAT

Group 3 VTOL fixed-wing ISR/targeting drone (designated MQ-35) that takes off and lands vertically from a small footprint, powered by the Hivemind autonomy stack and resilient in GPS- and communications-denied environments. Fielded in Ukraine and selected by the US Coast Guard. (V-BAT Teams is a multi-aircraft capability, not a separate model.)

Yes. Shield AI V-BAT is independently verified in real-world operation on the DEPLOY registry, confirmed at named deployment sites with primary sources: not a concept, render, or demo-only.

Partly. DEPLOY verifies Shield AI V-BAT operating autonomously for flight in GPS- and communications-denied environments. Other capabilities (Multi-drone autonomous team operations) are only demonstrated under teleoperation or remain vendor claims, not independently verified as autonomous.

Shield AI V-BAT is made by Shield AI, based in San Diego, California, USA, founded in 2015.

9 verified deployments of Shield AI V-BAT are on the DEPLOY registry, including at USA, Netherlands, Ukraine.

Shield AI V-BAT is in commercial deployment and is sold to operators; contact the manufacturer to buy, and see the pricing section for any recorded price.

Shield AI V-BAT runs Shield AI Hivemind. Each brain assignment is verified at the registry level via primary sources.

On the DEPLOY registry, comparable aerial robots to Shield AI V-BAT include Wing Delivery Aircraft, Skydio X10, Zipline Platform 2 (P2), Prime Air MK30.

Shield AI V-BAT and Wing Delivery Aircraft (Wing · 35 deployments) are both aerial robots on the DEPLOY registry. Shield AI V-BAT has 9 verified deployments on record. Compare both records for specs, safety, deployments, and verified-vs-claimed autonomy.

On DEPLOY's intelligence score, which blends verified deployments, safety, adoption, media, and IP signals, Shield AI V-BAT ranks in roughly the top 7% of aerial models tracked by the registry.

Shield AI V-BAT is at the production stage on the DEPLOY maturity ladder (research, prototype, pilot, commercial, production). Production stage means high-volume manufacture and commercial-scale deployments are sustained.

Shield AI V-BAT has 1 active incident on record in the DEPLOY registry. 1 incident on record (1 serious). Most recent: May 2026. Retracted incidents are excluded from this count.

Shield AI has completed more than 130 V-BAT sorties in Ukraine in partnership with Ukrainian forces, operating in harsh electronic warfare (EW) environments. The V-BAT has helped identify Russian air defense positions including S-400 systems. It is a Group 3 VTOL ISR drone designed for GPS-denied autonomous flight.