Image: Shield AI
Honeywell Aerospace and Shield AI have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding to build a trusted autonomy software stack for both defence and commercial aircraft, as per a recent press statement issued at Farnborough on 22 July 2026.
The deal pairs Shield AI’s Hivemind autonomy software with Honeywell Aerospace’s Anthem avionics, navigation and sensing systems. Honeywell Aerospace will develop the combined stack on Shield AI’s Hivemind Software Development Kit. The companies aim to help defence operators move faster from demonstration to deployment. They want operators to avoid rebuilding trust in a system each time it enters a new environment.
The partners will also explore extending AI-piloted autonomy into commercial aviation and other transport sectors. Shield AI will assess Honeywell Aerospace’s safety-critical products for use on its own uncrewed aircraft.
The collaboration addresses a central hurdle in mission autonomy. Software can already fly an aircraft unaided. The harder question is whether regulators, defence customers and commercial operators will trust it to do so without direct human control.
Matt Milas, president of Defence & Space at Honeywell Aerospace, commented: trust must be engineered into the architecture rather than added later. He added: Honeywell Aerospace supplies the certified foundation that lets warfighters, regulators and fleet operators trust the same platform at scale.
Gary Steele, chief executive of Shield AI, commented: combining certified avionics with Hivemind’s mission autonomy creates a trusted foundation for AI-piloted flight. He added: the partnership reflects how the wider aerospace and defence sector is evolving.
The companies will also evaluate joint pursuits of defence Unmanned Aerial System programmes worldwide, including support for allied nations building domestic autonomy capability.
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