Honeywell Aerospace, Shield AI collaborate to advance development of autonomous aircraft

Honeywell Aerospace and Shield AI, a leader in AI-powered mission autonomy, today announced a Memorandum of Understanding under which Honeywell Aerospace will develop a trusted autonomy software stack on Shield AI's Hivemind Software Development Kit, integrating Honeywell Aerospace's Anthem avionics, navigation, and sensing portfolio.

The collaboration aims to help defence operators move from demonstration to deployment faster across a wider range of operational environments, without having to rebuild confidence in each new system every time. In parallel, the companies will explore the architecture required to bring trusted, AI-piloted autonomy to commercial aviation and other transportation applications. Shield AI will also evaluate the use of Honeywell Aerospace's high-integrity, safety-critical products on its own uncrewed aircraft platforms.

The central challenge in mission autonomy is no longer whether software can fly an aircraft — it is whether that aircraft can be certified and trusted to fly without direct human control. Regulators, defence customers, and commercial operators each require confidence in the underlying system before it can be fielded. Closing that gap is the objective of this collaboration.

"Autonomy software can fly an aircraft — but trust has to be engineered into the architecture, not bolted on after," said Matt Milas, president, Defence & Space, Honeywell Aerospace. "Our role is to build the certified, design-assured foundation that lets a warfighter, a regulator and a fleet operator all trust the same platform. That's the layer we bring to this collaboration — the one that turns intelligence like Hivemind into something that can be deployed safely and at scale anywhere in the world."

"Honeywell Aerospace's certified avionics, navigation, and sensing systems paired with Hivemind, which delivers mission autonomy for intelligent, collaborative operations, create a trusted foundation for AI-piloted flight," said Gary Steele, CEO, Shield AI. "This collaboration reflects how the aerospace and defence ecosystem is evolving — bringing the best of autonomy and certified hardware to address transportation and national security challenges."

Under the collaboration, the companies will evaluate joint pursuits of defence Unmanned Aerial System programmes globally — and explore how Honeywell Aerospace's certified systems can extend Hivemind's reach into both U.S. and international markets, supporting allied nations seeking domestic autonomy capability.