Shield AI to demonstrate AI-equipped one-way attack munitions later this year - FlightGlobal
AI Analysis
Shield AI is integrating its Hivemind AI software into the US military's LUCAS one-way attack drones, a system reverse-engineered from the Iranian Shahed-136. This upgrade aims to enable swarming tactics, increased resilience to jamming, and dynamic target reallocation during missions. A demonstration involving 10+ drones is planned for later this year.
Key Takeaways
- The LUCAS drone system, based on the SpektreWorks FLM 136, has already seen limited combat use in the US-Israeli campaign against Iran.
- Hivemind AI will allow LUCAS drones to adapt to battlefield changes, including GPS/radio jamming and successful strikes by other drones in the swarm.
- Cost-effectiveness is a major driver; LUCAS drones cost $10,000-$55,000 compared to $1-2 million for cruise missiles.
- Russia is also deploying Shahed-136 derivatives (Geran-2), indicating a broader adoption of this low-cost attack drone strategy.
- Shield AI's V-Bat UAS is already in service with the Ukrainian armed forces, demonstrating the company's existing military presence.
Why It Matters
The integration of AI into one-way attack drones represents a significant shift in low-cost strike capabilities, potentially saturating enemy defenses and reducing the cost per successful engagement. This development highlights a growing trend towards autonomous swarming tactics and the proliferation of loitering munition technology, demanding advancements in counter-UAS systems and defensive strategies.
Shield AI to demonstrate AI-equipped one-way attack munitions later this year - FlightGlobal
ONE-WAY ATTACK
Shield AI to demonstrate AI-equipped one-way attack munitions later this year
ShieldAI says the addition of an autonomy agent will allow one-way attack drones to execute more complex behaviours, provide greater resilience to jamming, and ultimately produce higher mission success rates at a reduced cost US Department of Defense
The autonomy company will equip the Pentagon’s LUCAS one-way attack drones with Hivemind agentic software for a test demonstration later this year, swarming 10 or more munitions.
The Pentagon is exploring options to equip its new one-way attack drones with artificial intelligence software that would allow for swarming of multiple munitions and more complex flight patterns.
Autonomy start-up Shield AI has been selected to integrate its Hivemind system into Washington’s new Low-Cost One-Way Attack System (LUCAS) drones, which were reverse-engineered from the Iranian-made HESA Shahed-136.
Tehran pioneered the one-way attack concept, deploying thousands of simple, low-cost UAVs that can be cheaply and quickly produced in massive quantities to deliver an effective long-range strike capability at a bargain cost.
Russia is now actively delivering its own Shahed-136 derivative, the Geran-2, while Washington fielded its first LUCAS-equipped one-way attack squadron in late 2025. That unit has already seen combat action as part of the now-paused US-Israeli air campaign against Iran.
Those LUCAS drones, which are based on the SpektreWorks FLM 136 design, are capable of precision strike, but otherwise use relatively simple flight profiles. Adding Hivemind could significantly enhance the one-way attack concept, allowing multiple vehicles to coordinate actions and react to battlefield changes.
“What AI pilots enable is reduced cost per effect because you’re having higher success rates,” says Brandon Tseng, founder of Shield AI.
Tseng spoke to FlightGlobal at the Special Operations Forces Week conference in Tampa, Florida, on 19 May.
Unlike the unpiloted attack drones, AI-equipped munitions can do more than follow a pre-programmed route. They can adapt to impediments like GPS or radio jamming. Drones flown by AI can also take inputs from other agents in their swarm, redirecting to new targets after one munition records a successful strike, rather than continuing to hit the same mark.
“If you send 20 one-way attack drones at one target, and one of them gets in and blows it up, why not have the other 19 go after a different target and adapt?” Tseng says.
That adaptive capability would further lower the cost of one-way attack strikes, which are already a fraction of conventional long-range cruise missiles. The Pentagon says a basic LUCAS munition costs anywhere from $10,000 to $55,0000 versus $1-2 million for a modern cruise missile.
ShieldAI’s V-Bat uncrewed aerial system is in frontline service with the Ukrainian arme