"But for San Diego-based Shield AI, validation has looked a little different. In April of this year, Russian armed forces fired two HESA Shahed 136 missiles into a hangar in Kyiv, where a team of 30 Shield AI employees had been doing research and development just two weeks earlier. The missiles turned the facility into a skeleton of twisted metal and rubble, according to a photo and video footage reviewed by Fortune."
"Incredibly, no one was harmed. James Lythgoe, a former U.K. Royal Marine who is now Shield AI's managing director of Ukrainian operations, had moved the Shield AI employees to a new site, as he had been concerned about the newfound attention that its sprawling nine-foot-tall surveillance drone, the V-BAT, was picking up. "We were advised that the Russians were very aware of a new capability on the battlefield," Lythgoe says."
"On the frontlines in Ukraine, Russian jammers intersect communications and radio signals, leading drones to veer off course or even fall from the sky and crash. Many U.S. drones haven't been able to perform. But after an eight-month iteration period in 2024, Shield AI's V-BAT cleared rigorous Ukrainian jamming tests. In 2025 alone, the drones have executed more than 35 missions and identified more than 200 Russian targets in the warzone, according to the company."
Shield AI relocated its Kyiv research team two weeks before an April missile strike destroyed their hangar, and no employees were harmed. Concerns about attention drawn by its nine-foot V‑BAT surveillance drone prompted the move. Russian electronic jammers force many drones off course or down, but after an eight-month iteration in 2024 the V‑BAT passed rigorous Ukrainian jamming tests. In 2025 the drones conducted over 35 missions and identified more than 200 Russian targets. Operational success on Ukrainian frontlines and in U.S. service helped Shield AI reach a $5.6 billion valuation and attract interest from major contractors piloting its Hivemind software.
Read at Fortune
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]