SAN DIEGO, CA - Shield AI, a deep-tech company building autonomy software products and aircraft, has announced the successful autonomous flight of the BQM-177A target drone powered by its Hivemind AI-enabled autonomy software. The August test marked a major milestone toward the U.S. Navy's first beyond-visual-range (BVR) autonomy mission on a fast-moving platform. Conducted under the Experimental Platform for Intelligent Combat (EPIC) project, the demonstration advanced manned-unmanned teaming goals and reinforced Hivemind's growing role across a broad set of sophisticated aircraft.
In collaboration with Naval Air Systems Command's Strike Planning and Execution Program (PMA-281) and Aerial Targets Program (PMA-208), the August test at Naval Air Station Point Mugu marked the first time Hivemind autonomously flew the BQM-177A. The event demonstrated successful control handoff, onboard system communication, and integration with Kratos' updated Advanced Vehicle Control Laws (AVCL), following flight clearance through the Navy's rigorous safety and airworthiness process.
Christian Gutierrez, Vice President of Hivemind Solutions at Shield AI, said, "This milestone reinforces that Shield AI is a highly advanced, low-risk, mission-focused partner capable of rapidly integrating autonomy onto new platforms. It reflects our ability to lead complex system integrations while reinforcing our customer's goals with reliable, scalable, and interoperable autonomy solutions that are ready for real-world operations."
Shield AI served as the lead systems integrator and mission autonomy provider for the test, managing platform modification, payload integration, and technical coordination across industry and government stakeholders.
Originally designed as a high-performance aerial target, the BQM-177A served in this test as a low-cost autonomy research platform, generating insights that may inform Navy Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) concepts. Its use in this role gives the Navy a strategic asset to de-risk autonomy development when operational assets are unavailable or cost-prohibitive, accelerating Naval Aviation's path to fleet integration. Shield AI led a cross-industry team, including Kratos and CTSi, to modify the aircraft and integrate a modular autonomy kit. This included the human-machine interface (HMI), onboard compute, communications systems, and Shield AI's Hivemind autonomy software. Kratos provided software updates and payload integration, while CTSi developed the mission planning and control interface to enable operator interaction within a live-virtual-constructive (LVC) environment.
The EPIC project is a Navy effort to develop manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) capabilities through maturation and integration of advanced mission autonomy. The demonstration also marked another significant step toward implementing Autonomy Government Reference Architecture (A-GRA)-compliant interfaces — a Department of Defense (DoD) framework designed to enhance interoperability across autonomous military platforms.
This successful check flight clears the way for the final demonstration later this year and reflects steady progress toward enabling operational autonomy on fast-moving, tactically relevant air platforms.
