Voices from DARPA Podcast, Episode 97: The Vertical Lift Challenger

DARPA’s Lift Challenge aims to break a nearly century-old barrier that has held back heavy vertical-lift aircraft, which currently lift only as much as they weigh. The national public competition began with a single metric: improving payload-to-weight ratio.

Phillip “Donna” Smith, a program manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office who oversees several aerial drone programs including the Lift Challenge, discusses how a logistics challenge sparked the effort. He shares insights from the 2026 competition and the decision to pursue even larger goals in 2028, including the hypothesis that more aerodynamic designs, new materials, and better flight controls could enable aircraft to lift four times their current weight.

Sources: DARPA (YouTube)