Shield AI has agreed to acquire radar maker Echodyne in a deal valued at up to $5.3B. The company announced the agreement on Nov. 5, alongside $2.5B in new financing that includes a $1B Series H round at a $28.8B valuation.
Chief executive Gary Steele has said further acquisitions will follow. The deal marks a push by Shield AI beyond software. The company is best known for Hivemind, AI pilot software that flies drones and jets without GPS, communications or a human at the controls. It also builds the V-BAT drone, and its next aircraft, X-BAT, is an autonomous fighter jet that takes off vertically.
The company is hiring across aircraft design, weapons integration and manufacturing. It has an estimated $400M in 2025 revenue, up 49%, and its valuation has more than doubled since March. Germany-based Quantum Systems grew revenue 195% over the same period on deployments in Europe and Ukraine, and lower-cost drone makers are hiring faster.
Echodyne brings revenue and manufacturing capacity. Its new plant in Washington can build about 30,000 radars a year, and X-BAT will also be built in Washington. Most of the new Series H funding goes to the Echodyne purchase, while X-BAT production still needs funding. Future deals may therefore resemble Shield AI's first four acquisitions since 2021, each of which brought a working product with little outside capital behind it.
Shield AI already relies on partners around Hivemind. RTX supplies electronic warfare systems for X-BAT, and Honeywell Aerospace works with it on navigation. Buying makes sense where Shield AI sells a capability as part of its own aircraft and needs control over how it is built and integrated, as with Sentient, which moved from V-BAT supplier to subsidiary.
