Shield AI and Innovaero team up on sovereign loitering munitions for Australia

What the agreement covers

Under the MoU, Shield AI will put Hivemind on Innovaero's OWL munitions, which the companies describe as designed to efficiently identify, track and strike targets. According to the press release, Hivemind will enable faster mission planning and increased lethality in OWL's attacks.

Innovaero (ASX:INN) is an Australian defence and aerospace technology and manufacturing company that specialises in precision loitering munition systems. Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company founded in 2015. Its products include Hivemind, the V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies.

The companies say the partnership offers greater sovereign local control for systems being developed and deployed for the ADF.

Progress so far

Hivemind has already been integrated onto Innovaero's OWL-B aircraft ahead of flight testing. In the meantime, multi-agent coordinated strike missions are being simulated in dynamic conditions, with commands issued through the Android Team Awareness Kit (ATAK) tactical interface.

Innovaero's OWL family is described as entirely Australia-designed, built as one-way loitering munitions to respond to emerging threats with agility and precision. In March 2025, the company announced upgraded guidance capabilities for its flagship OWL-B and the first test demonstrator of the OWL-X variant.

What Hivemind brings

Shield AI says Hivemind dynamically reroutes mission plans, responds to unexpected conditions, avoids obstacles, and executes complex tasks safely and effectively. It operates as an edge AI capability and supports platform autonomy when communications are denied, degraded, intermittent, or limited.

According to the company, Hivemind is operationally proven in combat and has piloted more than 40 classes of vehicles. These include F-16s, Group 5 Collaborative Combat Aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters, drone boats, one-way attack drones, and ground vehicles. Shield AI also says Hivemind was most recently integrated onto the Destinus Hornet loitering munition in the short space of two months, with teams from Australia supporting successful flight tests in Spain.

Statements from both companies

Greg Tunny, CEO of Innovaero, said Shield AI "has a proven track record of integrating Hivemind across a wide range of platforms and operational environments." He added: "Together, we are accelerating an Australian-designed capability while preserving Australia's control over its critical defence technologies."

Adam Hogan, vice president of Hivemind for Australia, Asia and the Middle East at Shield AI, said the integration would help the ADF "plan and execute missions faster, coordinate multiple aircraft and operate when GPS or communications are degraded." He said the collaboration will also give Australia greater control over how that autonomy is developed, tested and fielded.

What it means

For the ADF, the arrangement points to a locally designed loitering munition paired with established third-party autonomy software, with an emphasis on keeping control of the technology in Australia. Innovaero says its products are aligned with Australia's Defence needs and the growing emphasis on mass, resilience and rapid capability delivery.

The release does not give a timeline for flight testing, delivery or any contract value. The agreement is an MoU, and the next visible step will be flight testing of Hivemind on the OWL-B.