GoKawiilThe Shield AI website arranged on a laptop computer in New York, US, on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.
The U.S. government is partnering with defense tech startup Shield AI as it seeks more affordable drones to combat soaring materials costs amid the war with Iran.
The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering on Tuesday said it will integrate Shield AI's autonomous Hivemind software to power low-cost uncrewed combat attack systems, or LUCAS drones.
Shield said the artificial intelligence software will allow the military to coordinate and adapt swarms of LUCAS drones in a rapidly evolving battlefield environment. The technology also allows platforms to operate, adjust and make decisions without human intervention.
"It's better to the American taxpayer at the end of the day, because it's cheaper to destroy a target, but it's also keeping our war fighters safer," Brandon Tseng, co-founder and president of Shield, said in an interview with CNBC. "They actually have the tools that they need to go and affect the battlefield."
Shield and the Pentagon did not disclose the financials of the deal.
The U.S. government is embracing new technology in the war against Iran, as the Middle East nation's low-cost Shahed drones destroy expensive military systems and reshape the modern battlefield. Defense tech companies like Shield AI are offering solutions, but their tools haven't been deployed at scale.
LUCAS is one of the major exceptions, and the government is in the market to buy more after a successful run in Iran.
The $35,000 drone, made by Arizona-based SpektreWorks, is a copycat version of the Iranian drones that have wreaked havoc on data centers, embassies and airports.
Tseng expects cheaper military systems like LUCAS, powered by AI, to eventually overtake legacy systems in the military's arsenal, although that transition could take well over a decade.
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