Shield Aviation

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in San Diego, CA, Shield Aviation specialized in the design, development, and deployment of endurance unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The company, formerly known as Aurora Aerospace, also provided aircraft training and demonstration services.

The firm's primary focus was on manufacturing and designing unmanned systems for the air industry. It catered to intelligence, defense, and homeland security clients, providing services that spanned from initial system design to flight operations and analysis. Shield Aviation developed autonomous aircraft systems (AAS) to deliver intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) services.

A key milestone for the company was securing an Interim Flight Clearance (IFC) for its ARES Unmanned Aerial System from the US Navy in October 2014. This demonstrated the system's reliability for military and defense applications. Financially, the company raised a total of $4.05 million, including a seed round of $3.5 million in July 2013 and an angel round in April 2015.

On July 24, 2018, the assets of Shield Aviation were acquired by Cubic Corporation's subsidiary, ISR Systems, Inc., for $12.8 million. The acquisition was a strategic move for Cubic to expand its Mission Solutions' (CMS) portfolio in the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) market. The integration of Shield Aviation's medium-altitude autonomous aircraft aimed to enhance Cubic's offerings in secure and expeditionary communications and ISR processing.

Keywords: unmanned aircraft systems, UAS, autonomous aircraft systems, AAS, intelligence surveillance reconnaissance, ISR, C4ISR, defense technology, homeland security, unmanned systems, aerial surveillance, military drones, aircraft design, flight operations, expeditionary communications, medium-altitude UAS, Cubic Mission Solutions, Aurora Aerospace, ARES UAS, government contracts