• The Navy, PAE Aviation, and DIU are investing $50 million under RIMES to scale Shield AI's vertical takeoff X-BAT strike drone.

  • X-BAT could give Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, which lack flight decks for fixed-wing aircraft, a strike capability that launches and lands vertically.

  • The jet-powered drone has a 2,000-plus nautical mile range, 50,000-foot ceiling, and Hivemind autonomy for communications-denied environments.