AURORA, Colo. — Shield AI takes us inside their new AI-piloted VTOL fighter jet, dubbed the “X-BAT,” at the 2026 Warfare Symposium. The X-BAT will be capable of launching and recovering from ships, remote islands, or austere forward bases while eliminating dependency on traditional infrastructure.
A new think tank analysis finds a hypothetical blended-wing body tanker could offer twice as much refueling performance as the KC-46A Pegasus and recommends the Air Force buy scores of them, as the service prepares to evaluate a BWB demonstrator next year and must juggle its future tanker plans with…