In productionBlue UAS Cleared

V-BAT

Tactical · made by Shield AI (United States)

The V-BAT is a Shield AI Group 3 VTOL ISR UAS designed for surveillance and reconnaissance, with a tail-sitter/ducted-fan configuration and heavy-fuel propulsion for shipboard and austere-area operations. Shield AI states it can launch and recover vertically without a runway and is intended for defense ISR missions from confined spaces such as ship decks and urban rooftops.

MTOW: 50 kg
Payload: 10 kg
Endurance: 12 h
Range: 180 km
Ceiling: 5,000 m
Speed: 160 km/h
Role: ISR
Blue UAS: Listed by the Defense Contract Management Agency as V-BAT (Shield AI), added 2025-12-31. Cleared List ↗

Who bought it

11 contracts, 2004–2026 · ≈ EUR 316.3M awarded in 7 · most often U.S. Coast Guard (4), Defense Logistics Agency, Frontex (European Border and Coast Guard Agency)

Sept 2026Ministry of DefenceUrgent acquisition of drone systems (V-BAT)EUR 46.9M
Jan 2026Indian ArmyIndia V-BAT + Hivemind DealUSD 90.0M
Jul 2025Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF)Netherlands Navy V-BAT Maritime ISR (8 systems)
Jun 2025Ministry of DefenceThe Netherlands Ministry of Defence (Ministerie van Defensie) awarded a contract valued at 31,726,464 EUR for 'UAV ISR' to procure eight V-BAT unmanne

All contracts(11)

Sept 2026Ministry of DefenceUrgent acquisition of drone systems (V-BAT)EUR 46.9M
Jan 2026Indian ArmyIndia V-BAT + Hivemind DealUSD 90.0M
Jul 2025Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF)Netherlands Navy V-BAT Maritime ISR (8 systems)
Jun 2025Ministry of DefenceThe Netherlands Ministry of Defence (Ministerie van Defensie) awarded a contract valued at 31,726,464 EUR for 'UAV ISR' to procure eight V-BAT unmanneEUR 31.7M

Similar products

Also by Shield AI: X-BAT (ucav) · Hivemind (counter-uas)
Alternatives: InView UAV (tactical) · RELIANT (tactical)

+ Compare with other products More about Shield AI →

Compiled by Drone Consult · updated 30 Aug 2026

Not from an official registry filing, so check the details against the original.

EUR 31.7M

Jun 2025Frontex (European Border and Coast Guard Agency)Frontex V-BAT Border Surveillance (Eastern Europe)

Jan 2025Japan Maritime Self-Defense ForceJapan V-BAT East China Sea ReconnaissanceUSD 25.0M

Jul 2024U.S. Coast GuardThis task order is for pre-deployment installation support, deployments 15-DAY, and UAS mission coordinator coursesUSD 9.9M

Jul 2024U.S. Coast GuardUSCG V-BAT ISR ServicesUSD 198.1M

Mar 2023Defense Logistics AgencyV-BAT 128 VTOL unmanned aircraft systemUSD 13.0M

Jun 2018U.S. Coast GuardInstall national security cutters (NSC) with unmanned aviation system (UAS) capabilityUSD 95.7M

Feb 2004U.S. Coast GuardSystem development of the VTOL UAVUSD 49.7M

Full description and specifications

The manufacturer also says it offers more than 12 hours of endurance and is built for autonomous operations with Hivemind autonomy software.

Wingspan: 3.8 m
Propulsion: piston