Shifters goal is not simply one robot controlled by one operator, but multiple robots working together while a single person supervises them.
By Hezy Laing
The battlefield robot is moving beyond the remotely controlled machine, and Israeli-American company Shifters is betting that four legs and artificial intelligence can put robots ahead of soldiers in some of the most dangerous places on earth.
Its TRUST, short for Tactical Robot for Unmanned Safety & Security Tasks, is a family of four-legged autonomous ground robots designed to enter dangerous, damaged or difficult-to-reach areas before human personnel.
Unlike many traditional ground robots, which use wheels or tracks and are commonly operated by a soldier through a remote-control station, TRUST is designed to navigate and move using artificial intelligence while remaining under human supervision.
Shifters says the goal is not simply one robot controlled by one operator, but multiple robots working together while a single person supervises them.
The company has developed two versions, the TRUST 70 and TRUST 50, with reported weights of just under 50 pounds and just under 40 pounds respectively, allowing a single soldier to carry either system.
A major advantage is their modular design.
Instead of building a separate robot for every mission, TRUST can carry different equipment, including cameras, scanners and other sensors, while Shifters says future configurations could include weapons operated by a human.
That could make the same basic machine useful for reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, perimeter security, tunnel and building inspection, search and rescue, and entering areas contaminated or too dangerous for people.
The four-legged design also gives TRUST an advantage over many wheeled robots when terrain becomes broken, steep or unpredictable, while its relatively small size makes it more portable than large tracked unmanned ground vehicles.
However, TRUST is not yet in the same category as established systems such as Israel’s Roboteam MTGR, which is already used by the IDF and military and security organizations in countries including the United States, Britain, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and Colombia.
TRUST was listed as a prototype in a 2026 robotics deployment registry, and Shifters has not publicly disclosed a unit price or identified armies that have purchased it.
Instead, the company is moving toward large-scale production after raising $10.2 million in seed funding, bringing its total funding to $15 million.
Shifters, founded in 2023 by CEO Ofer Ballin and CTO Assaf Chaprak, unveiled TRUST publicly at Eurosatory 2026 in Paris.
Its philosophy is summed up by the company’s slogan: “Robots go first.”
