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Sep 1

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AVIDrone Katana unmanned helicopter drone hovering against a clear blue sky, showing its main rotor, long tail boom, tail rotor and four-legged landing gear

Darpa · Technology

DARPA Doubles Lift Challenge Payload After 5 Of 76 Teams Scored

DARPA brings the Lift Challenge back in summer 2028 with the minimum payload doubled to 220 pounds and the course doubled to 10 nautical miles.

Haye KestelooSep 15 min read

Pilot Institute host presenting the week 378 drone news update in a pink and blue lit studio, with headlines for DARPA's Lift Challenge, a drone defibrillator rescue, and the NPRM drone ban

Video

DARPA Hands Out Half Prizes, A Drone Saves A Life In Sweden, And The FCC Weighs Banning Your DJI Drone

In this week's US drone news update, I cover the DARPA Lift Challenge results, a drone-delivered defibrillator that saved a man's life in Sweden, and the FCC proposal that could pull already-approved DJI drones like the Mini 5 Pro and Air 3S off the shelves.

Greg ReverdiauAug 14

Technology

DARPA Pays Half As A Conventional Helicopter Wins The Lift Challenge At 3.84:1

Avidrone Inc. won the DARPA Lift Challenge at a 3.84:1 payload-to-weight ratio with the Katana, a conventional single-rotor helicopter, and because nobody reached 4:1, the half-prize clause DroneXL reported last week cut every podium payout in two. The result says as much about energy density and American drone policy as it does about lift.

Haye KestelooAug 10

Three DARPA Lift Challenge team members in red shirts carry a long tubular heavy-lift drone airframe across the grass field at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

Technology

DARPA Lift Challenge Opens In Dayton With A Prize Rule That Plans For Failure

More than 90 teams are flying the DARPA Lift Challenge at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force through August 9, chasing a 4:1 payload-to-weight ratio for a share of $6.5 million. DARPA's own prize rules cut the top three awards in half if nobody clears 4:1, and the agency still has not resolved what the FCC Covered List means for the parts these American teams built with.

Haye KestelooAug 4

Rendering of a Sikorsky Nomad drone transitioning to land on the flight deck of a naval vessel at sea

Department of Defense

Sikorsky Nomad 100 Clears First DARPA EVADE Flight Tests

Sikorsky has completed the initial ground and flight test phase of its Nomad 100 tail-sitting drone for DARPA's EVADE program, sending the 18-foot hybrid-electric aircraft to a government facility for a more demanding multirole test campaign.

Rafael SuárezAug 4