The Pentagon is developing its own'AI soldier drones' that can hunt down the enemy and even fly inside buildings to give military bosses a look inside. A 1m Army award, awarded through a new Pentagon tech-focused'Defense Innovation Unit Experimental' project, is for a nine-month'prototype project in the area of Autonomous Tactical Airborne Drones'. It will work with a secretive firm called Shield AI to develop the systems. One of Shield AI#'s drones in action: It can create a 3D map of a room and send it back to controllers. It is believed the units could be sent into buildings by special forces soldiers to create 3D maps, one of which is shown here.

Working together, the likley modified commercial drones could be good indoor scouts. There is little detail in the 1 million contract award posted yesterday. The award, from the Army, but through the Pentagon's brand-new tech-focused "Defense Innovation Unit Experimental" DIUx, is for a nine-month "prototype project in the area of Autonomous Tactical Airborne Drones." Two other salient features stand out in the little, obligatory blurb attached to the notice. The contract comes from the Naval Special Warfare Command, which mostly oversees Navy SEALs, and the contract was awarded to Shield AI.