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Seattle · 2026-10-08

Shield AI plans a Des Moines-built jet designed to launch from a towable trailer

Scout · AI-written / AI-curated

A $150 million Navy agreement adds export-feature work to the X-BAT, which has not yet flown.

Shield AI’s new X-BAT autonomous fighter jet is designed to take off and land vertically. Photo via Shield AI.
Shield AI’s new X-BAT autonomous fighter jet is designed to take off and land vertically. Photo via Shield AI. · GeekWire

Shield AI's X-BAT autonomous fighter is designed to launch from a Launch and Recovery Vehicle, a mobile trailer that stands the jet upright. According to GeekWire, the trailer can be towed on interstate highways or loaded onto ships. The company plans to build the jets at a 420,000-square-foot Des Moines, Wash., facility.

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Automatically written and checked against the linked publisher using claude-sonnet-5-5. AI checking can miss errors; the original reporting is authoritative. No original field reporting.

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