Autonomy and agency

US Navy demonstrates independent AI flight decisions on two autonomous targets

The US Navy demonstrated Shield AI's Hivemind autonomy on two Kratos BQM-177A aircraft. The aircraft made independent decisions, planned routes, and executed maneuvers without remote piloting, while a second sortie added autonomous behaviors to the test sequence.

0 comments · 0 votesOpen discussion

Public discussion is readable by everyone. Sign in to comment, reply, or vote.

No comments yet. Start the discussion.

CURRENT ASSESSMENT · REVISION 1
TOWARD DOOM40confidence 88/100

Why it moved the index

The completed flight demonstration materially expands consequential machine autonomy in a military context. It did not show uncontrolled behavior or an escape, but it verified independent route planning and maneuver decisions on real aircraft, reducing the distance between software autonomy and operational physical effects.

AUDIT TRAIL

Assessment history

  1. R1
    Toward 40 · confidence 88

    New practical-impact evidence found in the September 2025 gap review.

    13 Aug 2026
SHARE THE FINDINGS

Share this page

DoomBench social sharing card for US Navy demonstrates independent AI flight decisions on two autonomous targets.
  1. DoomBench assesses “US Navy demonstrates independent AI flight decisions on two autonomous targets” as evidence moving toward doom, with magnitude 40 and confidence 88 out of 100 in the autonomy and agency category.

  2. The DoomBench assessment of “US Navy demonstrates independent AI flight decisions on two autonomous targets” is based on reporting from Naval Air Systems Command and records the editorial rationale, source quality, attribution, and...

  3. DoomBench summarizes “US Navy demonstrates independent AI flight decisions on two autonomous targets” as follows: The US Navy demonstrated Shield AI's Hivemind autonomy on two Kratos BQM-177A aircraft. The aircraft made independent...

    https://www.doombench.com/news/us-navy-demonstrates-independent-ai-flight-decisions-on-two-autonomous-targets-2025-09-22