Shield and NIPPI Corporation have signed a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) contract for the V-BAT uncrewed aircraft in Japan, making NIPPI Shield’s primary in-country MRO and training provider and a direct source of V-BAT technical support for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). Shield describes the contract as the first domestic MRO agreement of its kind.

Shield, which issued its earlier V-BAT announcements under the name Shield AI, announced the deal in a press release datelined Tokyo, November 12, 2026. The agreement includes provisions for NIPPI to build in-country technical capability for Group 3 unmanned aircraft systems, the class Shield assigns to V-BAT. According to Shield, moving MRO and training into Japan shortens repair timelines, reduces the logistics burden of returning components to the United States and moves V-BAT from an imported system toward a sustained, domestically supported capability.

What NIPPI will do for the JMSDF

Under the contract, NIPPI will provide technical and maintenance support for V-BAT directly to the JMSDF. Shield said the work is intended to build NIPPI’s domestic V-BAT maintenance and operations capabilities and a sustainable base of specialist skills in Japan. NIPPI will be Shield’s main V-BAT partner with the JMSDF and could extend the same capabilities to future V-BAT programs with other forces, according to the release.

Kunihiro Asaji, Project Manager at NIPPI, said that for the Japan Self-Defense Forces, “establishing a sustainable domestic maintenance and support capability is essential to ensuring equipment readiness.” He said the collaboration allows NIPPI to do this directly while building its people’s skills in unmanned aircraft maintenance as the program matures.

Eugene “Sunshine” Choi, International Business Development – Managing Director, Japan at Shield, said: “Japan is a strategic ally for the United States in the Asia region.” He described the agreement as a commitment to be a long-term partner rather than only a supplier. He said it creates skilled jobs in Japan and builds long-term capacity by putting maintenance, repair and training capability into Japanese hands. Shield said it is investing in Japan with a dedicated Tokyo office, led by Choi, to support its Japanese customers and partners on the ground.

From the 2025 selection to local sustainment

The contract builds on the JMSDF’s selection of V-BAT as the country’s first maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platform, which Shield AI announced on January 22, 2025. That release said V-BAT would give JMSDF surface vessels ISR capability and called the deal the first step in a planned multi-year increase in V-BAT orders, with the JMSDF acquiring multiple aircraft. Neither release gives the number of V-BATs in Japanese service.

Sumisho Aero-Systems, a Japanese aerospace and defense trading company, has facilitated V-BAT procurement for the JMSDF since the program began, according to the November release. Shield describes it as a key interface between the company and Japanese stakeholders on V-BAT activities. Sumisho Aero-Systems provides business development, program coordination and supply chain support in Japan.

NIPPI, founded in 1934, works in aircraft component manufacturing, composite technology and aircraft maintenance, repair and modification from facilities in Yokohama and Atsugi. Shield’s release says NIPPI has supported Japan Self-Defense Forces and United States Navy aircraft for decades. On its own website, NIPPI describes itself as a member of the Kawasaki Heavy Industries Group and cites maintenance experience on more than 14,000 aircraft.

A pattern of in-country support

The Japan agreement follows similar steps by Shield in Europe. When the Hellenic Army signed a procurement agreement to expand its V-BAT fleet for maritime domain awareness over the Aegean Sea, Shield AI said on June 2, 2026, that it would open an office in Athens as part of a long-term commitment to Greece. On October 12, 2026, GE Aerospace, Shield AI and Poland’s Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze Nr 2 (WZL-2) signed a memorandum of understanding on F110 engine MRO in Poland. The partners will explore F110 engine and Axisymmetric Vectoring Exhaust Nozzle (AVEN) MRO capability there for the X-BAT, Shield’s AI-piloted vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) fighter, with sustainment planned from the start.

In Italy, Shield AI announced on July 21, 2026, that ENAC, Italy’s National Aviation Authority, had issued a Specific Assurance and Integrity Level (SAIL) III authorization for maritime V-BAT operations to Global Sat Tech, the UAS operator of record, with Shield AI supplying technical documentation, crew training and operational support. During a pilot project with Frontex and the Italian Coast Guard from the patrol vessel Dattilo in the central Mediterranean, two V-BATs logged 150 flight hours over 19 days at sea, the company said.

What the release leaves open

The November 12 release does not give the contract’s value or duration, the number of aircraft NIPPI will support, or when NIPPI’s work begins. It also does not name the other forces whose future V-BAT programs NIPPI could support.

Shield describes V-BAT as a single-engine aircraft with a ducted-fan design and a heavy-fuel engine, built for contested electronic warfare environments, with an enclosed-rotor design that allows unassisted launch and recovery from ship decks, urban rooftops and austere sites. Its June 2026 Greece release lists more than 12 hours of endurance.

Wing will put up to $125 million in direct manufacturing investment over the next two years into a 15,000-square-foot drone factory in Fort Worth, Texas, a plant the company expects to have capacity to build tens of thousands of aircraft each year.

The drone delivery company announced the investment on November 6, 2026, saying the facility will create up to 100 new manufacturing jobs. Wing tied the spending to its plan to reach more than 40 million Americans by 2027 across nearly 20 U.S. markets, and named the upcoming release of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) rule as a driver of that expansion.

What Wing announced

Wing described the Fort Worth site as its newest manufacturing facility. The company said it is also investing in research and development and engineering in California and in the communities where it operates. The announcement did not give a date for the start of production in Fort Worth or name the aircraft model the plant will build.

Adam Woodworth, CEO of Wing, said: “Drone delivery has become a global reality, driven by clear demand from our partners and their customers.” He said the United States is the company’s growth focus and that investing in drone delivery there advances American aviation innovation.

The company closed its announcement by saying its technology is ready to scale and that the future of aviation should be built, scaled and secured in the United States.

How Wing’s delivery network has grown

Wing began in 2012 at X, Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory, on the idea that a two-pound package could be delivered more efficiently than in a two-ton vehicle. In 2019 it earned the first Part 135 Air Carrier Certificate in the United States for drone operations. The company now serves major metropolitan areas from more than 70 sites, which it describes as the largest drone delivery footprint in the country, and says it has completed over one million home deliveries in the U.S. so far in 2026.

The 40 million figure matches the expansion Wing announced with Walmart. On January 11, 2026, the two companies announced that drone delivery would expand to 150 more Walmart stores over the following year, reaching more than 40 million Americans, with a network of more than 270 drone delivery locations from Los Angeles to Miami planned by 2027. That expansion built on existing operations in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and Metro Atlanta, the region where the new factory will sit.

The January announcement named Los Angeles, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Miami as new service areas, alongside previously planned markets in Houston, Orlando, Tampa and Charlotte. Wing said at the time that its top 25% of customers order three times a week and that deliveries grew threefold over the second half of 2025 compared with the first half. Greg Cathey, Senior Vice President of Digital Fulfillment Transformation at Walmart, said adoption confirms “this is the future of convenience.”

The rules Wing is waiting on

The BVLOS rule Wing referred to had not been finalized as of November 10, 2026. The FAA announced the proposal on August 6, 2025, as “Normalizing Unmanned Aircraft Systems Beyond Visual Line of Sight Operations” (Federal Register document 2025-14992), with requirements covering operations, aircraft manufacturing, separation from other aircraft, operational authorizations, security, and reporting and record keeping. AirPro News covered the FAA’s draft Part 108 rule when it was released.

In a separate final rule on aircraft inspection programs, published in the Federal Register on November 10, 2026, the FAA said drone operations under Part 135 are a minority of such operations and will decline in number once its rulemaking to establish a new Part 108 for BVLOS operations is completed. AirPro News also reported on November 10, 2026, on the FAA’s BVLOS clearance for Skyways.

That same final rule, effective January 11, 2027, changes maintenance requirements for unmanned aircraft operating under Part 135, the framework of Wing’s 2019 air carrier certificate. Owners and operators of those aircraft may follow Part 91 inspection rules and choose either a manufacturer-recommended inspection program or one established by the registered owner or operator, as long as the Administrator approves it. Before the rule, the FAA granted exemptions and waivers to accommodate drone operations under Parts 91 and 135, generally requiring the aircraft to follow the manufacturer’s inspection instructions or to incorporate them into an operator’s approved maintenance inspection program.

What to watch

Wing’s stated targets for 2027 are more than 40 million Americans served across nearly 20 U.S. markets, and the Walmart plan calls for more than 270 drone delivery locations in the same year. The company has not disclosed how the up to $125 million will be spread across the two years or how many aircraft the Fort Worth plant will build in its first year.

The FAA has authorized Skyways to fly its autonomous V2 vertical takeoff and landing drone beyond the operator’s visual line of sight from Shell’s facility in Gibson, Louisiana, to a Shell platform in the Gulf of America. The agency said on November 9, 2026, that it is the first authorization of its kind for a drone flying beyond visual line of sight from the U.S. coastline over the Gulf.

The flight will include a pipeline right-of-way inspection and a simulated delivery of equipment to the offshore platform. The FAA said the flight would show how drones could support critical infrastructure and offshore operations, and that the authorization enables long-range commercial drone operations over the high seas.

A waiver, not a rule change

The FAA issued the authorization under Section 927 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. According to the agency, that section lets it approve certain drone operations through a waiver instead of through rulemaking or an exemption, which gives innovative operations a pathway to approval.

Michael Kratsios, assistant to the President for science and technology and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, said: “The Trump Administration envisions a future where advanced drone operations are routine.” He called the authorization an important step toward that vision and toward a regulatory framework for these capabilities.

Acting FAA Deputy Administrator Liam McKenna said: “The FAA is focused on safely unlocking the full potential of American drone technology.” He said the agency is working with industry to move beyond traditional operating limitations.

The wider BVLOS rulemaking

The Skyways approval sits alongside the FAA’s broader effort to make beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights routine. Executive Order 14307 on drone dominance, titled “Unleashing American Drone Dominance” and signed on June 6, 2025, directed the FAA to issue a proposed rule enabling routine BVLOS operations for commercial and public safety drones within 30 days, and said a final rule shall be published within 240 days of the order. It also gave the FAA 120 days to begin deploying artificial intelligence tools to help review waiver applications under 14 CFR part 107.

The FAA and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) published the proposed Part 108 rule, titled “Normalizing Unmanned Aircraft Systems Beyond Visual Line of Sight Operations,” in the Federal Register on August 7, 2025. The proposal would set performance-based regulations for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operating at low altitudes beyond visual line of sight, and for third-party services such as UAS Traffic Management (UTM) that support them. It lists package delivery, agriculture, aerial surveying, civic interest, operations training, demonstration, recreation and flight testing among the uses it would cover.

Under the proposal, operations would be conducted primarily below 400 feet above ground level unless the Administrator authorizes higher, and unmanned aircraft weighing no more than 1,320 pounds would fall under an airworthiness acceptance process. The comment period closed on October 6, 2025. The proposal cites the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, the same law that contains the Section 927 waiver authority used for the Skyways approval.

Who Skyways is

Skyways, formally Skyways Air Transportation Inc., designs, builds and operates long-range hybrid vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and the software that flies them. The company says it has flown missions with customers since 2017 and is flying with customers on three continents. Its website pictures a V2 aircraft at Kumejima Island, Japan, in 2026, and cites completed base-to-base, offshore and island deliveries as well as shipboard launch-and-recovery testing, without dates.

The company’s website lists a V3 platform with a range of more than 1,300 miles, a flight time of more than 18 hours and a useful load listed as “Up to 100+ lb.” Skyways lists commercial and defense logistics, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, disaster response and asset inspection among its mission areas.

The FAA did not give a date for the Gulf flight or details of the V2’s specifications in its announcement.