Insider Brief
- HII, America’s largest military shipbuilder, and Shield AI announced a partnership at DSEI 2025 to advance modular, cross-domain mission autonomy by integrating Shield AI’s Hivemind software with HII’s Odyssey suite.
- The collaboration will focus first on unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and later expand to unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs), leveraging HII’s maritime expertise and Shield AI’s autonomy proven on air platforms such as the MQ-20 Avenger, V-BAT, and F-16.
- By pairing autonomy software with decades of shipbuilding and integration experience, the companies aim to deliver scalable, resilient solutions enabling U.S. and allied forces to operate across air, land, surface, and undersea domains with greater speed and flexibility.
PRESS RELEASE — HII (NYSE: HII), America’s largest military shipbuilder, and Shield AI, the deep-tech company building state-of-the-art autonomy software products and aircraft, announced a partnership to advance modular, cross-domain mission autonomy.
The announcement was made in London at DSEI 2025, one of the world’s premier defense and security exhibitions.
The partnership brings together Shield AI’s Hivemind mission autonomy software and HII’s Odyssey suite to develop next-generation autonomous solutions. By combining Shield AI’s advanced autonomy with HII’s decades of maritime expertise as America’s largest shipbuilder and leading global unmanned underwater vehicle provider, the two companies aim to accelerate 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. Together, we are accelerating the future of autonomous operations and ensuring our warfighters can operate with greater speed, flexibility and resilience.”
“Our partnership with HII expands our commitment to delivering autonomy rapidly, safely, and repeatedly at scale across all domains,” said Nathan Michael, Shield AI’s chief technology officer. “HII stands as a global leader in maritime innovation, bringing unmatched expertise to this collaboration and serving as a force multiplier to accelerate the advancement of autonomous capabilities. As we look towards the future of autonomy, we see our partnership with HII as a step towards redefining what maritime operations will look like.”
Hivemind is Shield AI’s autonomy software that enables unmanned systems to execute complex missions with high reliability in GPS- and communications-denied environments. Built for modular integration and deployment across multiple platforms, Hivemind allows partners and customers to rapidly develop, test and field mission autonomy on a wide range of systems, across every domain. Hivemind has proven success in autonomously piloting air vehicles, including the MQ-20 Avenger, V-BAT, and F-16. This partnership represents the beginning of Hivemind’s application in the maritime domain that will initially focus on unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and expand into unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs), including platforms such as HII’s REMUS line.
HII’s Odyssey autonomy software enables unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), USV, and UUV individual and teaming operations across domains. Built on an open-standard, government-aligned architecture, Odyssey allows rapid integration of sensors, payloads, and third-party autonomy technologies, giving partners the flexibility to develop and field new capabilities in step with emerging naval concepts. Proven on more than 35 Unmanned Surface Vehicle platforms with over 6,000 operational hours across the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, and allied programs, Odyssey delivers intuitive control, customizable mission behaviors, and seamless interoperability — making it a force multiplier for the modern fleet.
