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Global aerospace and defence giant RTX has announced a new partnership with leading artificial intelligence company Shield AI to accelerate the development of autonomous mission capabilities for the US and allied defence forces, including Australia.
The collaboration will see Shield AI’s advanced Hivemind autonomy stack integrated into a selection of RTX’s cutting-edge defence systems – such as loitering munitions and multispectral sensors – with the aim of delivering networked collaborative autonomy (NCA) across future battlefields.
The result will be the first operational weapon system powered by NCA, a significant technological breakthrough that combines real-time coordination, resilience and combat-proven lethality. Notably, this development will be fully funded by the companies themselves, requiring no government investment.
“AI and autonomy continue to enhance the performance of our products,” said Chris Calio, RTX chairman and CEO. “In partnership with Shield AI, we will deliver critical new solutions that will create a competitive advantage for our customers.”
Shield AI CEO Gary Steele added, “RTX’s defence systems, paired with Hivemind – which delivers mission autonomy for intelligent, collaborative operations – create powerful new capabilities for the warfighter. This collaboration reflects how the defence ecosystem is evolving: bringing together the best of autonomy and hardware to address national security challenges.”
In addition to loitering weapons, Shield AI’s Visual Detection and Ranging technology will be integrated with RTX’s Multi-Spectral Targeting System.
This upgrade will enable AI-driven sensor autonomy for maritime and aerial swarm threat detection particularly relevant for allied navies operating in increasingly contested Indo-Pacific waters.
The partnership underscores a shared commitment to the responsible development of autonomous defence systems. Both companies have confirmed their alignment with US Department of Defense ethical AI principles, ensuring their technologies remain reliable, transparent, governable and held to the highest security standards.
For allies like Australia, the collaboration could pave the way for future sovereign integration of these AI-enhanced capabilities into platforms used across the ADF – supporting a more autonomous, networked and survivable force posture.
