DARPA Lift
Our hybrid-electric aircraft flew at the 2026 DARPA Lift Challenge.
On the Lift Challenge livestream, Phillip Smith of DARPA said:
"VertSolve from Phoenix, Arizona, combined a gas engine with a generator used to power its electric motors, which at this size and weight category is amazing and has not been done"Watch on the DARPA livestream, 9 Aug 2026
Nominated by DARPA for Most Revolutionary Powertrain Design.
We flew our 10 kW prototype generator, which powered a 108-second unloaded flight on 4 Aug 2026 and was shut down and restarted to idle in flight.
Demonstrated
Read the 13 Aug 2026 postBattery-electric results
The payload-to-weight ratio and the placing come from the DARPA Lift Challenge scoreboard, which ranks teams by payload-to-weight ratio and lists VertSolve's run among attempts without an official score.
13th overall
Of 132 invited teams, on a battery-electric run, demonstrated
2.31 to 1
Payload-to-weight with a 114 lb payload, battery-electric, demonstrated
4.6 miles
Loaded course completed with 70 lb payload, battery-electric, demonstrated
The heavy-lift quadcopter flown at DARPA Lift is available built to order.
Demonstrated aircraft, battery-electric