Polish Navy selects V-BAT VTOL UAS

A V-BAT seen undergoing operational testing by the Royal Netherlands Navy. The Polish Navy will now operate the VTOL UAS in a maritime environment. (Royal Netherlands Navy)

The Polish Navy has acquired the Shield AI V-BAT vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for use aboard its ships.

The manufacturer announced the procurement of an undisclosed number of V-BAT systems on 23 June 2026, saying that the VTOL UAS will be employed aboard an unspecified Polish Navy vessel for maritime domain awareness and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) support.

The announcement did not disclose a contract value or delivery timeline.

According to Janes All the World's Aircraft: Unmanned , the V-BAT has a unique design with a ducted-fan-based pusher propulsion system attached at the end of the fuselage. The single rotor propulsion system helps the UAS to transition from a vertical to a horizontal fixed-wing flight during any mission. Shield AI lists the V-BAT as being suitable for a range of ISR applications including shipboard surveillance, anti-piracy patrols, aerial mapping, urban-based surveillance, and border patrol.

Mission payloads include gimballed electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) cameras, an automatic identification system (AIS), a visual-based navigation system (optional, only for data collection), a land/maritime wide area search (WAS) artificial intelligence (AI)-based payload, and a synthetic aperture radar (SAR).