IFC 2026: Shield AI rolls out first X-BAT prototype, notes strong European interest

Shield AI released the first imagery of the first prototype X-BAT (X-BAT 001) to coincide with the IQPC International Fighter Conference 2026 in Munich. (Shield AI)

Shield AI has rolled out its first prototype X-BAT, with a senior company official noting to Janes strong European interest in the unmanned vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) ‘strike jet' that is now being developed for runway-free operations.

The announcement of the rollout of X-BAT 001 at Shield AI's Frisco facility in the US state of Texas in early November 2026 coincided with the IQPC International Fighter Conference (IFC) 2026 in Munich, Germany. The company's director of collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) Europe, Andrew Hawkes, used the event to update Janes on the programme and to note the increasing European interest that has been building since the capability was first revealed in late 2025.

“It was 12 months ago that we made X-BAT public as a concept. We have finished the build of the first prototype aircraft that left our factory in Frisco last week. It is a full-size aircraft, with full autonomy and full integration of the [General Electric] F110-GE-129 engine with thrust vectoring,” Hawkes said on 4 November 2026. “That will fly at the company's Kansas test range by the end of this year,” he added.