Shield AI's Hivemind runs two Kraken uncrewed boats as a team in Portsmouth demonstration

Shield AI and Kraken Technology Group said on 28 September 2026 that Shield AI's Hivemind autonomy software had run two of Kraken's K3 SCOUT uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) as a team, in what their joint announcement describes as a joint demonstration "in Portsmouth, U.K." The announcement, published on Shield AI's newsroom and reproduced by Seapower Magazine the same day, does not give the date the demonstration took place.

What the companies say was demonstrated

According to the announcement, the two vessels operated "as an autonomous team, coordinating an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) mission". The sequence it describes:

• Search. Hivemind "autonomously coordinated the search of a designated area by two vessels using onboard radar, cameras, and Automatic Identification System (AIS) data".
• Detect and classify. The software detected and classified "a vessel of interest located in the search area".
• Track and escort. Hivemind then "directed the USVs to collaboratively track and escort the contact from the operating area".
• Replan. It then replanned the mission and the vessels went back to searching, the companies say.

The companies say the demonstration "showed how multiple autonomous vessels can operate as a coordinated team to perform complex missions rather than as independent assets". They describe Hivemind as acting "within operator-defined parameters under established command authority" and "while maintaining human decision authority".

What the announcement does not say

We read the announcement in full. It does not name any Royal Navy or Ministry of Defence involvement in the Portsmouth demonstration, and it does not mention a contract or customer for the Hivemind and K3 SCOUT pairing. The mission it describes is surveillance, tracking and escort; it does not describe any weapons being carried or used. It gives no figures for how long the demonstration ran, the size of the search area, or what the vessel of interest was.

The claims around it

• Christian Gutierrez, Shield AI's senior vice president of Hivemind, said: "Hivemind pushes operator intent directly into an autonomous USV team, helping systems prioritise contacts of interest, adapt to changing conditions, and execute missions alongside the crew instead of adding to their cognitive load." He added that partnering with Kraken "allows allied navies to field this capability on a platform today."
• Mal Crease, Kraken's chief executive and founder, said "the successful integration of Hivemind onto K3 SCOUT further validates our technology."
• The announcement says the event "represents Shield AI’s first maritime autonomy demonstration in the U.K." That is a claim about Shield AI's own activity in the UK, not a claim to be first in the field. It describes Hivemind as software that, "Unlike traditional autopilots that cannot deviate from preplanned routes", reroutes mission plans and avoids obstacles; that is the company's description of its product.

The boat

The K3 SCOUT is Kraken's vessel. The joint announcement says it "measures 8.4 m in length, can reach speeds of up to 55 kt, and can carry a 600 kg payload", and that its modular design means it "can be purposed or rerolled for a variety of missions including logistics, search and rescue, survey, ISR, strike or kinetic capabilities". Those are the platform's stated options, not what was shown at Portsmouth.

The announcement also says "Kraken recently delivered 20 K3 SCOUTs in a matter of months to the Royal Navy under Project BEEHIVE." On the Royal Navy's side, its own news page of 11 March 2026 said the service was "set to purchase 20 uncrewed boats", under a contract "worth £12.3m" won by Kraken, as part of "the Royal Navy’s Project Beehive". It said the boats "will be used by the Coastal Forces Squadron and 47 Commando Royal Marines for operations, training and development activities". A later Royal Navy article, on 8 July 2026, described "A Beehive-specification Kraken K3 Scout" being airdropped from an A400M transport aircraft in a trial it said the Royal Navy supported. The two Royal Navy pages we read do not state that all 20 boats have been delivered; that figure comes from the companies.

What comes next

Shield AI and Kraken say they "plan to expand their collaboration with future joint trials in contested environments with U.K. and NATO partners over the coming year." No partner is named.

Why it matters

On our reading, this is a company-run demonstration of software coordinating two boats on a surveillance task, and the only public account of it so far is the companies' own announcement. It names no customer for the pairing and publishes no test data. The trials with UK and NATO partners are, in the companies' words, a plan. What the announcement does show is two firms tying Shield AI's autonomy software, which the company describes as expanding "beyond aviation", to a boat type that the Royal Navy, on its own account, is already working with under Project Beehive.