PhysicsAI Awarded DARPA Contract to Develop Autonomous Soaring for UAVs
PACIFICA, Calif., Nov. 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PhysicsAI today announced that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded the company a prime contract under the Albatross program, a cutting-edge initiative to develop autonomous soaring capabilities for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Under this contract, PhysicsAI will design, train, and test advanced artificial intelligence agents that can perceive dynamic wind conditions, optimize mission planning, and execute bird-like soaring maneuvers through a variety of environments.
The DARPA Albatross program pushes the boundaries of UAV endurance by enabling aircraft to actively harvest energy from the atmosphere’s natural wind fields, much like soaring birds. By reducing onboard power demands, the new capabilities will extend flight range, endurance, and mission effectiveness.
PhysicsAI brings significant experience and technology to this challenge, having previously developed customized deep learning algorithms that successfully piloted an F-16 test aircraft for DARPA’s Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program. For Albatross, the company will adapt and extend these algorithms for UAV platforms.
“PhysicsAI has a long history of developing novel autonomous agents for full-scale vehicles, including large trucks and fighter jets,” said Dr. John M. Pierre, principal of PhysicsAI. “We are excited to apply our technology to UAVs.”
Dr. Pierre added, “Rather than designing AI that replicates human intelligence, we are building AI inspired by animal intelligence. Eagles, ravens, condors, and albatross are nature’s ultimate soaring pilots, and we’re teaching UAVs to do the same.”
The resulting Albatross technology will significantly reduce UAV power requirements, enabling small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) to fly farther and longer. This breakthrough will unlock new mission capabilities for both military and commercial applications.
The PhysicsAI Albatross team includes partners Applied Aeronautics LLC and Shearwater Aerospace Inc.
About PhysicsAI
PhysicsAI is a research and development company that builds novel technology for advancing the state-of-the-art in robotics, autonomous vehicles, and intelligent sensors. PhysicsAI specializes in designing innovative deep neural networks that can perceive the real world, make complex decisions, and adapt to changes in real-time. In addition, PhysicsAI has developed proprietary technology for large-scale training of autonomous agents and creating synthetic training data using generative AI. PhysicsAI’s customers have included DARPA, the U.S. Army, and the Strategic Capabilities Office. Learn more about PhysicsAI at www.physics-ai.com and follow PhysicsAI on LinkedIn.
Contact: Kevin Wilson kevin@wilsonpr.com
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