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Revolutionizing Heavy Vertical-Lift Aviation
What better place to showcase aviation history in the making than at the world's largest military aviation museum! | 0:30<br>Novel Drone Designs Lift Beyond Limits<br>DARPA Challenges incentivize researchers from across academia, government, commercial, and defense communities to develop non-traditional or unexpected solutions to grand national security challenges, through cash prizes. Prizes encourage thinking outside the box and broad participation by attracting a wide array of potential solvers to tackle a problem, rather than just the usual experts in a given field.<br>What’s the Lift Challenge?<br>As military missions become more complicated, warfighters need more capable drones to use across diverse scenarios. The same applies to infrastructure inspection, package delivery, disaster response, and other civilian applications.<br>Current multirotor drones, also known as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), are simple, affordable, and easy to operate. But their payload-to-weight ratio is low, typically 1:1 or less.<br>The DARPA Lift Challenge aims to shatter the heavy-lift bottleneck by seeking novel drone designs capable of carrying payloads more than four times their weight. This would revolutionize how we use drones across all sectors.<br>By offering $6.5 million in prize money, the Lift Challenge seeks to incentivize university researchers, independent innovators, and industry to set a new standard in vertical lift performance.<br>Teams will compete on the grounds of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, from Aug. 2-9. DARPA will open up the event to the public from Aug. 6-9.
Witness aviation history<br>in the making!<br>Public Access: Aug. 6-9, 2026<br>National Museum of the U.S. Air Force<br>Dayton, Ohio<br>Challenge finals are open to the public, but seats are limited.<br>Reserve your spot
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