The Pentagon’s secretive technology incubator has launched its latest X-plane competition, this time with an eye toward identifying concepts for a highly efficient uncrewed cargo drone.
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plans to launch the Lift Challenge in 2026, seeking novel designs for uncrewed aircraft that can carry payloads more than four times their own weight.
“Current multi-rotor drones typically manage a 1:1 payload-to-weight ratio, severely limiting utility,” the agency told FlightGlobal on 25 November. “DARPA believes a 4:1 ratio is now possible, thanks to breakthroughs in aerodynamics, materials science and propulsion.”
Additional requirements include the ability to lift at least 50kg (110lb), fly 5nm (9.2km) and weigh 35kg or less, including fuel or weight from another power source.
Though DARPA has not yet released the formal competition rules, the agency says compliance with civil Federal Aviation Administration requirements will be included.
That is notable, because while the Pentagon agency typically focuses on technologies with military applications, the Lift Challenge also notes potential civil uses for the new technology. DARPA suggests a high payload-to-weight uncrewed aerial system would be effective for infrastructure inspection, package delivery and disaster response.
Many DARPA X-plane projects are sufficiently complex or resource-intensive as to eliminate all but sophisticated aerospace industry players.
By contrast, with the Lift Challenge the agency says it hopes to tap into “garage inventor energy” as a way to identify unexpected solutions to increasing the payload of uncrewed vertical take-off and landing aircraft.
Bid submissions for the Lift Challenge will be accepted not just from industry, but also from university researchers and individual designers.
Participants will have the chance to vie for $6.5 million in prize funds.
DARPA plans to begin accepting design proposals in January, with the contest kicking live performance trials off over the summer.
The agency will host an informational webinar for interested contenders on 4 December.
