Uncrewed aircraft system tested in Arctic NATO exercise by Shield AI
NewsMarch 04, 2026
HARSTAD, Norway. Shield AI says it demonstrated ship- and land-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions with its V-BAT uncrewed aerial system (UAS) during NATO’s HEIMDALL 26 exercise in Norway, the company announced in a statement.
The event, hosted by NATO’s Center of Excellence for Cold Weather Operations from Feb. 17-26, assessed manned-unmanned teaming concepts and the integration of ISR data into the NATO Federated Mission Network and a multi-domain operations framework, according to the statement. Shield AI says the exercise was used to evaluate V-BAT operations in extreme cold and maritime conditions without aircraft modifications.
During the multinational exercise, Shield AI says V-BAT completed multiple vertical takeoff and landing operations from the Norwegian Coast Guard vessel KV Olav Tryggvason and also flew land-based missions, the statement reads. The company says the aircraft flew day and night with sensor payloads that included electro-optic and infrared systems and synthetic aperture radar. Shield AI says communications occurred over multiple frequency bands and that ISR data was fed into multinational command-and-control systems to support situational awareness, the statement adds.
