Overview
- The contract was announced Tuesday, June 23, 2026, when Poland’s Armament Agency signed to buy several MQ‑35 V‑BAT systems from Shield AI.
- Polish and company reports place the deal at about $16 million with multiple platforms scheduled for delivery by the end of 2026.
- Poland says the V‑BATs will be installed for shipboard use on an unspecified class of Polish Navy vessel after completion of installation work.
- Shield AI describes V‑BAT as a NATO Class I, ducted‑fan VTOL UAS with more than 12 hours endurance, a heavy‑fuel engine, unassisted deck launch and recovery, and design features aimed at operating in degraded GPS and electronic‑warfare conditions.
- The purchase follows other allied V‑BAT adoptions and is intended to expand persistent, low‑logistics maritime ISR in the Baltic, which could improve Polish and NATO tracking of threats to energy and communications infrastructure.