DARPA offers US$6.5m prize to mega-payload UAS designers

November 27, 2025
Gregor Ferguson
News

The Pentagon’s Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA, has issued a Lift Challenge to designers and manufacturers of Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) who can design a UAS that lift up to four times its own weight.

Registration is tentatively scheduled to open in January 2026, and close May 2026. Find additional details on the Lift Challenge site (https://www.darpa.mil/lift), including draft rules and prize criteria.

DARPA has offered US$6.5 million ($10 million) in prize money to the company, designer or university researcher who can do this. Current multirotor UASs provide simplicity, affordability, and ease of operation; however, their primary limitation is their low payload-to-weight ratio, which typically falls at 1:1 or less, DARPA explains.

Competitors in the Lift Challenge must create an aircraft that is both lightweight and powerful. To compete, designs must weigh no more than 55lb (25kg), including fuel or power source, and be capable of lifting a minimum payload of 110lb (50kg) across a set 5 nautical mile course. This threshold encourages creativity and innovative thinking for designs at a scale that should allow widespread participation, says DARPA.

The DARPA Lift Challenge aims to shatter the heavy lift bottleneck, seeking novel UAS designs that can carry payloads more than four times their own weight, which would revolutionize the way drones are used across all sectors, both Defence and civil. By offering $6.5 million in prize money, the Challenge seeks to incentivize innovators to set a new standard in vertical lift performance, DARPA said in a media release.

DARPA experts theorize the 4:1 payload-to-weight ratio is plausible based on recent advances in aerodynamic design, materials science, and propulsion systems. This ratio could unlock a whole new range of possibilities for both military and civilian applications, it adds.

As military missions become more complicated, warfighters need more capable UASs to use across diverse scenarios, says DARPA. The same also applies to civilian applications, like infrastructure inspection, package delivery, and disaster response.

“DARPA recognizes the best solutions often come from unexpected places,” said Phillip Smith, DARPA’s Lift Challe nge program manager. “We’ve deliberately created an open design Challenge format to encourage out of the box thinking.”

The Challenge prioritizes safety and regulatory compliance, requiring all participating individuals and teams to strictly adhere to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. Teams will go head-to-head in live performance trials in the northern summer of 2026.

“The Lift Challenge isn’t just about building better UAS; it’s about securing America’s leadership in UAS technology for decades to come,” said Smith. “We’re setting ambitious goals and giving everyone a chance to compete to create new capabilities, accelerate our defense industrial base, and give the U.S. a strategic advantage.”