HiddenLayer awarded place on MDA’s $151bn SHIELD IDIQ contract
AI security company HiddenLayer has been awarded a place on the US Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) contract.
The SHIELD indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract has a ceiling value of $151bn. It is a key acquisition vehicle for the Department of War’s (DoW) Golden Dome initiative and is designed to accelerate the delivery of new capabilities to military personnel. Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
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The programme is designed to help the MDA and its mission partners field advanced technologies more quickly, while allowing for greater flexibility and responsiveness.
HiddenLayer secured its position on the contract due to its performance on existing US Federal projects, including work with the DoW and US Intelligence Community (USIC).
HiddenLayer CEO and co-founder Chris “Tito” Sestito said: “This award reflects the Department of Defense’s recognition that securing AI systems, particularly in highly-classified environments, is now mission-critical.
“As AI becomes increasingly central to missile defence, command and control, and decision-support systems, securing these capabilities is essential. HiddenLayer’s technology enables defence organisations to deploy and operate AI with confidence in the most sensitive operational environments.”
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HiddenLayer’s Airgapped AI Security Platform serves as the core of its solution for classified DoW and USIC deployments.
The platform is claimed to be the first to focus on safeguarding AI models and development processes in entirely disconnected environments.
It is installed within customer-managed infrastructure, meeting federal security regulations while offering detection, scanning, and response functions necessary for national security tasks.
According to HiddenLayer, the Airgapped AI Security Platform protects all stages of the AI lifecycle. Its features are designed to secure agentic, generative, and predictive AI applications through discovery tools, supply chain protection measures, testing mechanisms, and runtime defences.
The platform ensures that all sensitive data remains contained within customer-controlled settings. HiddenLayer or outside parties cannot access data unless clients make it available.
In addition, the platform addresses compliance requirements for federal security classifications and seeks to reduce exposure to external threats by restricting unnecessary dependencies.
“By operating in fully disconnected environments, the Airgapped AI Security Platform provides the peace of mind that comes with complete control. This release is a milestone for advancing AI security where it matters most: government, defence, and other mission-critical use cases,” Sestito added.
The SHIELD IDIQ enables the MDA to quickly assign task orders to approved industry partners across various mission areas, advancing innovation for the Golden Dome initiative’s layered missile defence system.
Activities under the contract will take place at sites specified by the MDA and its mission collaborators.
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