US firm's loitering munitions to be more effective with combat-proven tech

RTX, a Virginia-based defense company, is set to enhance its loitering munitions, sensors, and weapon systems by integrating Shield AI’s Hivemind, an AI-powered autonomy software. This integration will enable the first operational weapon powered by Networked Collaborative Autonomy (NCA), a technology that combines real-time coordination, resilience, and combat-proven firepower. The collaboration aims to deliver mission autonomy for intelligent, collaborative operations across various missions such as air defense breach, missile hunting, reconnaissance, and beyond-visual-range strikes. Notably, this development is fully funded by RTX and Shield AI without government investment. In addition to Hivemind, Shield AI will integrate its Visual Detection and Ranging (ViDAR) software with RTX’s Multi-Spectral Targeting System (MTS) to provide automated AI-based sensor autonomy against maritime and airborne swarm targets. This partnership aligns with Pentagon principles by ensuring the autonomous systems are reliable, traceable, governable, and secure.