AVIDrone's unmanned aircraft system competing in DARPA's Lift Challenge. Photo: DARPA

The Defense Advanced Research Projects (DARPA) is initiating a new round to its challenge aimed at significantly increasing the payload-to-weight ratio of vertical aviation for heavy lift, with the next prize competition set for the summer of 2028. The DARPA Lift Challenge (LC)-2 will still focus on unmanned aircraft that weigh 55 pounds or less, but doubles the minimum payload to 220 pounds from 110 pounds, the agency posted on its website this week. The challenge course is also doubling…