Romanian Navy Officer Injured in Shield AI V-BAT Training Accident

A Romanian Navy officer suffered severe hand injuries May 12, 2026, during a training exercise involving a Shield AI V-BAT unmanned aircraft system off the Texas coast. According to the Romanian Ministry of National Defence, the officer's hand contacted the aircraft's propeller, resulting in two severed fingers and one fractured finger.

Preliminary data from the National Transportation Safety Board identifies the aircraft as a Shield AI V-BAT with registration N391JA, listed under event ID 20260514202994. While the NTSB record places the event in the Gulf of Mexico region, Shield AI stated the injury resulted from a "violation of established safety procedures, not from a product defect."

This incident follows a Reuters investigation reporting that V-BAT drones have crashed more than 50 times in the past 18 months during testing and operational deployments. Previous documented mishaps include an April 2024 incident at Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport, where a V-BAT was destroyed during a vertical landing demonstration for the U.S. Navy. Romania's Ministry of National Defence reports that its investigation into the May 12 event remains ongoing.