American company Shield AI conducted a test flight of the V-BAT unmanned aerial system aboard the Zumwalt-class stealth destroyer USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001).

“This is another big step towards Shield AI’s goal of deploying a swarm of V-BATs on every US and allied naval ship – destroyers, amphibious attack carriers, aircraft carriers, patrol carriers,” the company said.

The futuristic looking advanced UAV was developed by Shield AI as a Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle system.

V-BAT is a rapidly deployable vertical takeoff and landing expedition system with continuous aerial reconnaissance and non-GPS navigation.

Shield AI claims the V-BAT is unlike any UAV on the market today, with innovative vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities, virtually zero footprint and long service life. A single-channel fan with thrust vectoring takes off and lands in the style of a SpaceX rocket.

V-BAT also has sufficient payload capacity to carry a range of switchable payloads, including Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR), Synthesis Aperture Radar (SAR), and Electronic Warfare (EW) depending on specific mission requirements.

USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) is the second ship of three Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyers. The Zumwalt class is designed as a multi-role surface fighter for ground attack and coastal operations, tasked with supporting both ground operations and the joint/naval battlefield.