The XQ-58 Valkyrie drone will have artificial intelligence support and be able to operate in conditions without GPS signal

Shield AI will be able to integrate its own artificial intelligence system into the XQ-58 Valkyrie drone. The company has entered into an agreement with manufacturer Kratos Defense & Security Solutions.

Here's What We Know

Shield AI head and co-founder Ryan Tseng said that Ukraine's Armed Forces are losing 10,000 drones every month due to the effectiveness of Russian electronic warfare. The company decided to learn from Ukraine's experience and came up with a way to rid American drones of such a problem.

Shield AI is used in the modified F-16 VISTA fighter jet and the V-BAT drone. Now the company has developed a system for the XQ-58 Valkyrie strike drone, which is likely to work in conjunction with America's fifth- and sixth-generation fighters in the future, but that's another story.

Brandon Tseng believes the Valkyrie is the best drone to integrate an artificial intelligence system. The AI will allow the drone to operate in the absence of communications and GPS signals. Kratos CEO Eric Demarco believes the two companies working together will quickly bring the best drone for command and control operations to market.

Note that Kratos recently upgraded its drone and announced the cost of the new variant. Eric Demarco said last month that the cost per drone is $6.5 million in a small-scale production environment. The company had previously said the cost would be below $2m when producing 100 or more drones a year.

Also last month, the Marine Corps armed itself with Valkyrie drones. The service will use them alongside F-35B and F-35C Lightning II aircraft as an electronic warfare platform.

Source: Shield AI