HII and Shield AI announced a partnership to advance modular, cross-domain mission autonomy. The announcement was made at DSEI 2025 in London. The partnership combines Shield AI’s Hivemind mission autonomy software with HII’s Odyssey suite.
The companies stated that by merging Shield AI’s autonomy expertise with HII’s experience in shipbuilding and unmanned underwater vehicles, they aim to accelerate the development of autonomy across domains and platforms.
“This partnership combines the very best of emerging mission autonomy with the proven platforms and integration expertise that HII delivers across the maritime domain,” said Eric Chewning, executive vice president of maritime systems and corporate strategy at HII.
“By pairing Shield AI’s cutting-edge Hivemind software with HII’s Odyssey suite, we are creating scalable, modular solutions that will give U.S. and allied forces an operational edge across every environment — air, land, surface and undersea.”
Hivemind, Shield AI’s autonomy software, enables unmanned systems to execute missions in GPS- and communications-denied environments. It has been used to pilot air vehicles including the MQ-20 Avenger, V-BAT, and F-16. Through the partnership with HII, its use will expand into unmanned surface vehicles and unmanned undersea vehicles, including HII’s REMUS line.
HII’s Odyssey autonomy software supports operations of unmanned aerial, surface and undersea vehicles. According to the company, it has been proven on more than 35 Unmanned Surface Vehicle platforms with over 6,000 operational hours in programs involving the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard and allied forces.
HII HII (Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc.) is a publicly traded U.S. defense contractor incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Virginia. It operates as a global, all-domain defense provider, with business divisions including Newport News Shipbuilding, Ingalls Shipbuilding, and Mission Technologies.
Shield AI Shield AI, Inc. is a U.S.-based defense technology company founded in 2015. It develops artificial intelligence software and unmanned systems for defense applications. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California.