Shield Ai Inc.

Shield AI Inc., a San Diego-based for-profit manufacturer of autonomous systems, unmanned aerial systems, and artificial intelligence technologies, operates as a prime contractor in full-and-open federal defense procurements without set-aside designations, holding multiple indefinite delivery vehicles and generating recent awards across Department of Defense agencies, the Coast Guard, and the Missile Defense Agency.

The company competes exclusively in unrestricted federal procurement. Its capability portfolio centers on vertical takeoff and landing (VBAT) unmanned aircraft systems, multi-role unmanned aerial systems (MR-UAS), autonomous swarm technologies, artificial intelligence and machine learning for command and control, intelligence and surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) services, and training for unmanned systems operators. Representative recent work includes a $60 million Other Transaction Agreement with Naval Air Warfare Center for the Runway Independent Maritime and Expeditionary Strike (RIMES) prototype (June 2026); a $16 million Coast Guard delivery order for VBAT shore-based services in Puerto Rico (February 2026); an $11.3 million Naval Air Systems Command delivery order under EWAAC for V-BAT vertical takeoff and landing training support (September 2025); a $13.4 million NAVAIR OTA for the ARCANE (Architecture and Capabilities for Autonomy in the Naval Enterprise) BQM-177A autonomy prototype (August 2024); and a $10.975 million Air Force Research Laboratory definitive contract for artificial intelligence swarm technologies under SBIR Phase III (May 2023).

Customer concentration splits between volume and dollar magnitude. The Coast Guard ranks first by award count (12 awards, $289 million combined potential value), driven by Shield AI's single-award Maritime Unmanned Aircraft Systems indefinite delivery contract ($229.3 million ceiling, awarded June 2024, running through September 2029) and nine task orders against it worth $46.6 million to date. The Department of the Air Force dominates by potential value (4 awards, $46.95 billion) anchored almost entirely by a $950 million Joint All Domain Command and Control Support indefinite delivery contract awarded in June 2022. The Department of the Army (across Materiel Command R&D and Space and Missile Defense Command, 6 awards, $132.6 million combined potential value), Naval Air Systems Command and Naval Air Warfare Center (9 awards, $119 million combined potential value), and the newly awarded Missile Defense Agency SHIELD IDIQ ($151 billion multiple-award contract, December 2025) complete the top-tier customer set. These five customer tiers account for 100% of the combined potential value across all 57 tracked awards.

Parent vehicles anchor Shield AI's placement and recompete strategy. The Maritime Unmanned Aircraft Systems contract (Coast Guard, single-award, $229.3 million through September 2029) has generated 11 task orders carrying $59.7 million combined potential value. The Eglin Wide Agile Acquisition Contract (EWAAC, Air Force, $46 billion multiple-award IDIQ) carries 3 Shield AI task orders ($14.2 million combined potential value). Shield AI also holds framework agreements with Naval Air Systems Command (Basic Ordering Agreement for ISR services, established March 2026 through March 2031), Naval Air Warfare Center (Basic Ordering Agreement for unmanned aerial systems and autonomous capabilities R&D, established August 2024 through August 2029), the Army (Basic Ordering Agreement for drones and drone components under Executive Order 14307, December 2025 through December 2030), and a recently awarded position on the Missile Defense Agency's $151 billion SHIELD multiple-award IDIQ (December 2025 through December 2035).

Activity trajectory shows consistent growth. Shield AI generated three awards in 2022, seven in 2023, eight in 2024, nine in 2025, and ten through October 2026. Seven awards with combined potential value of $61.5 million reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating near-term recompete exposure on Coast Guard MR-UAS and VBAT task orders (with ultimate completion dates running through September 2026) and smaller SBIR Phase III efforts with the Air Force Research Laboratory (completion through October 2024).

Shield AI operates primarily as a prime contractor (49 of 57 awards, 86%) with selective subcontract engagement. Named sub relationships include Atlantic Diving Supply (VBAT aircraft, basic operator training and maritime courses, and Mission Kit Stalker VXE sensor integration, 2023–2024); American Electronic Warfare Associates (engineering support on NAVAIR programs, 2023); and as a subcontractor to Booz Allen Hamilton on future vertical lift analysis and development (December 2024), Sierra Nevada Company on Big Safari services (December 2024), The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory on unconventional irregular warfare for manned-unmanned systems (March 2025), and CACI NSS on Special Operations Forces emerging threats operations and planning (June 2026). Service Contract Inventory reporting captures minimal activity—$0 invoiced across both FY2024 and FY2025 at trivial FTE scale (0.2 FTEs in FY2024, 0.0 in FY2025)—reflecting SCI's exclusion of classified work, goods, and research contracts, which dominate Shield AI's portfolio. SCI is not representative of the vendor's actual service-delivery or revenue profile.

Shield AI's corporate structure includes three named subsidiaries: Sentient Vision Systems PTY LTD (manufacturer of goods, for-profit), Martin UAV LLC (manufacturer of goods, for-profit), and Heron Systems, Inc. (for-profit). These subsidiaries likely contribute to Shield AI's technical capabilities in autonomous systems and unmanned aerial platforms, though the source does not detail subsidiary-level award allocation or operational roles.