Federal Ammunition, Mossberg, and Palladyne AI Launch Joint Development of SwarmShot™, a Modular Autonomous Airborne Counter-UAS System

Purpose-built ammunition, an airborne weapon module, and Army-demonstrated true autonomous swarming will create a reusable kinetic swarm designed to defeat hostile drones

SwarmShot will first be developed as a modular mission add-on for Palladyne AI’s Gremlin-X Group 1 quadcopter mini-bomber, followed by a planned integration kit for compatible third-party drones

ANOKA, Minn. & NORTH HAVEN, Conn. & SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Federal Ammunition, part of The Kinetic Group, a member of CSG Group (Euronext Amsterdam: CSG); Mossberg; and Palladyne AI Corp. (NASDAQ: PDYN), today announced the joint development of SwarmShot™, a modular autonomous airborne counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) designed to transform compatible drones into reusable air-to-air interceptors operating together as a collaborative kinetic defensive swarm.

SwarmShot will combine Federal’s specialized counter-UAS shotshell ammunition, a lightweight Mossberg weapon module purpose-engineered for airborne operation, and Palladyne AI’s IntelliSwarm™ autonomy system, which combines BRAIN avionics with SwarmOS™ collaborative autonomy software.

The system will initially be developed as a modular mission add-on for Gremlin-X™, Palladyne AI’s Group 1 quadcopter mini-bomber. The modular architecture is intended to allow the same aircraft to be configured for either its existing mini-bomber precision-strike mission or an autonomous counter-UAS mission. Following qualification on Gremlin-X, the companies plan to offer SwarmShot to other manufacturers as an integration kit for compatible unmanned aircraft.

SwarmShot will be engineered as one integrated system. Federal will lead ammunition design and terminal-effect optimization, leveraging experience from its recent U.S. Army counter-UAS ammunition contract. Mossberg will lead development of the lightweight airborne weapon module, including remote operation, recoil management, reliability, and safety. Palladyne AI will lead UAS integration, fire control, terminal-intercept autonomy, and coordination among multiple interceptors.

A Defensive Application of True Autonomous Swarming

SwarmShot is a defensive application of Palladyne AI’s predictive autonomy collaborative swarming capability, recently deployed with the U.S. Army at Project Convergence Capstone 6 (PC-C6) and other recent Army exercises.

During those exercises, Palladyne AI’s SwarmOS enabled heterogeneous unmanned aircraft from multiple manufacturers to share information, allocate responsibilities, and adapt their actions collectively in real time. The aircraft operated collaboratively at the edge while soldiers retained authority over weapons employment.

SwarmShot will apply that same capability to air defense. IntelliSwarm is designed to receive validated threat tracks from existing sensors or command systems to autonomously allocate targets among available interceptors, calculate intercept paths, maneuver each aircraft into an effective engagement position, and redirect the swarm as targets move or new threats appear.

“SwarmShot is a defensive application of the true autonomous swarming capability we demonstrated with the Army at PC-C6 and other exercises,” said Ben Wolff, President and CEO of Palladyne AI. “One SwarmShot-equipped aircraft is a reusable interceptor. Multiple aircraft operating through IntelliSwarm become a coordinated kinetic swarm. Gremlin-X gives us the first complete system, and the multi-OEM kit gives the partnership a path to scale.”

Three Proven Technologies, Engineered for a New Mission

Federal will bring advanced ammunition engineering and recent Army counter-UAS experience to a new airborne engagement environment.

“Federal has always engineered ammunition around the mission,” said Jason Vanderbrink, Chairman and CEO of The Kinetic Group. “Our recent counter-UAS work for the U.S. Army provides a strong technical foundation for SwarmShot. Working with Mossberg and Palladyne AI allows us to optimize the ammunition, weapon, and engagement geometry together from the outset.”

Mossberg will apply more than a century of firearms innovation to the development of a weapon system specifically designed for autonomous airborne operation.

“This is not simply an existing shotgun mounted to a drone,” said Doug Bell, President and COO of Mossberg. “Mossberg will engineer a lightweight airborne weapon module around the unique requirements of recoil, remote actuation, reliability, and safety. SwarmShot extends trusted firearms engineering into an entirely new defense application.”

Palladyne AI will provide the aircraft, avionics and autonomous intelligence that give the Federal and Mossberg effector reach, positioning and the ability to operate collaboratively.

“Federal provides the terminal effect. Mossberg provides the weapon. Palladyne AI provides the reach, intelligence and teammates,” Wolff said. “The breakthrough comes from unified engineering of all three.”

A Kinetic Swarm Built to Defeat the Drone Swarm

Small, inexpensive drones can impose an unfavorable cost exchange on conventional missile-based defenses. SwarmShot is being designed as a reusable close-in kinetic layer that complements existing counter-UAS sensors, command systems and higher-end effectors.

Instead of waiting for a hostile drone to enter the limited range of a ground-based weapon, SwarmShot carries the weapon and ammunition toward the threat. The aircraft establishes the engagement geometry, the Mossberg module delivers the round and Federal’s specialized ammunition provides the terminal effect.

Potential applications include the defense of deployed forces, airfields, command posts, logistics facilities, ships, mobile formations and other critical military infrastructure.

The initial development program is expected to include ammunition and terminal-effect testing, airborne weapon integration, recoil and aircraft-stability testing, live-fire flight testing, weapons-safety controls, autonomous multi-interceptor coordination and integration with third-party sensors and command systems.

Following qualification on Gremlin-X, the planned SwarmShot kit is expected to include Federal counter-UAS ammunition, the Mossberg airborne weapon module, Palladyne AI IntelliSwarm hardware and software, fire-control electronics, modular aircraft interfaces and platform-specific integration support.

The multi-OEM architecture is intended to expand the opportunity beyond complete Gremlin-X systems to include ammunition, weapon modules, avionics, autonomy software, integration and support across a broader installed base of compatible aircraft.

Development schedules, potential customer engagements and financial terms were not disclosed.

About Federal Ammunition

Federal Ammunition has been a leader in ammunition innovation since 1922. Headquartered in Anoka, Minnesota, Federal develops and manufactures ammunition for sporting, law-enforcement, military and government customers.

Federal is part of The Kinetic Group, which is owned by CSG, a global industrial and technology group based in Prague, Czech Republic.

About O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc.

Founded in 1919, O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc., is the oldest family-owned firearms manufacturer in America, and is the largest pump-action shotgun manufacturer in the world. Celebrating over 100 years of innovation, Mossberg leads the industry with over 100 design and utility patents to its credit and stands as the first ISO 9001 Certified long-gun manufacturer. For more information on commercial, special purpose, law enforcement, and military shotguns and rifles, please visit www.mossberg.com.

About Palladyne AI

Palladyne AI is a U.S.-based technology company developing patented embodied artificial intelligence, collaborative autonomy solutions, and autonomous systems for defense and industrial markets. Palladyne AI delivers secure, American-developed and operated platforms designed to meet the stringent requirements of U.S. government and public-sector customers, including data sovereignty, security, and compliance.

Palladyne AI’s embodied AI is designed to operate in complex, contested, and high-risk environments, enabling distributed tasking, human-on-the-loop decision-making, degraded-communications resilience, and multi-domain coordination. Its platform-agnostic autonomy stack combines real-time sensor fusion, adaptive AI models, and edge-native orchestration to support autonomous and collaborative systems across air, ground, maritime, and industrial domains. For more information about Palladyne AI, including GuideTech and Palladyne Aerospace and Defense, please visit www.palladyneai.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the development, performance, timing, scope, and potential outcomes of the collaboration between Palladyne AI, Mossberg and Federal Ammunition; the capabilities or future capabilities of the SwarmShot system; the planned integration into Palladyne AI’s Gremlin-X and eventually third-party platforms; and the integration and effectiveness of IntelliSwarm with SwarmShot. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Generally, statements that are not historical facts, including statements concerning possible or assumed future actions, business strategies, events, or results of operations, are forward-looking statements. These statements may be preceded by, followed by, or include the words “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “projects,” “forecasts,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “plans,” “scheduled,” “anticipates,” “intends” or “continue” or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results, or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Palladyne AI’s management’s current expectations and beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events. However, there can be no assurance that the events, results, or trends identified in these forward-looking statements will occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Palladyne AI is not under any obligation and expressly disclaims any obligation, to update, alter or otherwise revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

Readers should carefully review the statements set forth in the reports which Palladyne AI has filed or will file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), in particular the risks and uncertainties set forth in the sections of those reports entitled “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” for a description of risks facing Palladyne AI and that could cause actual events, results or performance to differ from those indicated in the forward-looking statements contained herein. The documents filed by Palladyne AI with the SEC may be obtained free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.