Shield AI and Innovaero to integrate Hivemind autonomy on Australia's OWL-B loitering munition

TLDR

• Shield AI and Australian manufacturer Innovaero have signed an MoU to integrate Shield AI's Hivemind mission-autonomy software onto Innovaero's OWL family of loitering munitions, starting with the OWL-B aircraft ahead of flight testing for the Australian Defence Force.¹²
• Hivemind is already integrated onto OWL-B, with multi-agent coordinated strike missions simulated in dynamic conditions and commands issued through the ATAK tactical interface.¹
• Shield AI says Hivemind has already piloted more than 40 vehicle classes, including F-16s, Group 5 Collaborative Combat Aircraft and one-way attack drones.¹

Shield AI and Innovaero Technologies announced the partnership at the Land Forces 2026 conference, under a Memorandum of Understanding to integrate Hivemind onto Innovaero's Australian-designed OWL precision loitering munitions.¹³ Hivemind has already been integrated onto Innovaero's OWL-B aircraft, with multi-agent coordinated strike missions being simulated in dynamic conditions and commands issued through the Android Team Awareness Kit (ATAK) tactical interface.¹

Hivemind is an edge-AI autonomy system that dynamically reroutes mission plans, responds to unexpected conditions, avoids obstacles and keeps operating when GPS or communications are degraded or denied.¹² Shield AI says Hivemind has already piloted more than 40 classes of vehicles, including F-16s, Group 5 Collaborative Combat Aircraft, drones, helicopters, drone boats, one-way attack drones and ground vehicles, and was most recently integrated onto the Destinus Hornet loitering munition within two months, with Australian teams supporting flight tests in Spain.¹

"By integrating Hivemind into the OWL family, we will help the ADF plan and execute missions faster, coordinate multiple aircraft and operate when GPS or communications are degraded," said Adam Hogan, Shield AI's vice president of Hivemind for Australia, Asia and the Middle East.¹² Innovaero CEO Greg Tunny said the partnership is "accelerating an Australian-designed capability while preserving Australia's control over its critical defence technologies."¹³

Why it matters: the deal pairs a combat-proven US autonomy stack with an Australian-built munition, letting the ADF field AI-piloted strike capability while keeping manufacturing and control of the airframe itself onshore, a model Canberra has been pushing for as it builds sovereign defence industry.