Thunder Tiger, Shield AI Integrate Autonomous Software into Unmanned Vessels

Thunder Tiger Technology and US defense unicorn Shield AI have successfully integrated Shield AI's Hivemind autonomous software into Thunder Tiger's Sea Shark series of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs). The collaboration, formalized in a May memorandum of understanding, saw the software deployed onto the USVs within six weeks.

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Hivemind has a successful combat experience in the Ukraine battlefield, linking 9 drones, and can still autonomously execute missions in the battlefield where communication and GPS are lacking.

Chen Guan-ru, chairman of Thunder Tiger, and Matt Starner, Shield AI's Taiwan president, observed a demonstration at Pingtung's Dapeng Bay. The event, delayed by a typhoon, showcased how autonomous technology can assist Taiwan's maritime unmanned systems in navigation, response, and mission execution in realistic sea conditions. Two Sea Shark models, the 600 and 800, participated in the exercise.

Shield AI engineers highlighted Hivemind's combat-proven experience, including a successful operation in Ukraine involving nine drones that operated autonomously despite communication and GPS disruptions. For the Dapeng Bay demonstration, the system was tasked with deterring an unidentified vessel intruding into a patrol area. The USV autonomously located, tracked, and pursued the target until it left the zone.

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Various disposal modes depend on the initial mission objectives and can also perform suicide missions or attack missions.

Shield AI emphasized the system's adaptability, noting that various response modes can be executed based on mission objectives, including offensive or suicide missions. The system is designed for resilience, capable of automatically assigning a new commander unit if the original is lost, without human intervention. The companies plan a phased integration and verification process, including simulation, hardware-in-the-loop, and live vehicle testing, to develop intelligent unmanned system swarms with collaborative operational capabilities.

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If the commander machine is lost, the system will immediately push out a new commander machine without human intervention to complete the mission with the latest fleet scale.