U.S. Army tests ULTRA autonomous vehicles at Fort Polk

Overland AI said Thursday that its ULTRA autonomous ground vehicles completed a month-long operational deployment with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division during a rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

Four of the vehicles were integrated into the brigade’s maneuver plan and used in logistics, reconnaissance, and counter-drone missions during one of the United States Army’s toughest large-scale combat training exercises. The rotation gave the company and the Army a rare look at how autonomous ground systems perform inside a frontline formation operating at brigade level.

“The bar for what autonomous ground vehicles can do inside a military formation is being set right now, and 3-82 helped us set it,” said Byron Boots, co-founder and chief executive officer of Overland AI. “We watched Soldiers take ownership of our autonomous ground vehicles by expanding to broad ranges of mission sets on their own. That tells us we are building the right capability for the warfighter.”

The vehicles operated over maneuver distances of more than 10 kilometers in both daytime and nighttime conditions, supporting missions that typically place soldiers and crews at higher risk.

One of the clearest results came in resupply operations. Overland AI said the use of ULTRA vehicles cut distribution timelines by about 50 percent, allowing the brigade to move supplies faster during sustained combat operations.

The systems were also used in a resupply mission to a sniper team positioned eight kilometers away in a contested environment with active opposing-force presence. During that mission, soldiers adapted the vehicles for deception, using one ULTRA as a decoy to draw attention away from the primary resupply platform. The company said the tactic was developed organically by troops during the rotation rather than being preplanned.

That detail offers a glimpse into how soldiers are beginning to treat autonomous vehicles not just as robotic cargo carriers, but as flexible battlefield tools that can support deception and force protection.

The brigade commander also tasked the vehicles with forward route reconnaissance. In that role, ULTRA identified obstacles ahead of the objective, helping engineers plan breach operations and informing the brigade’s maneuver plan before troops moved forward.

Later in the rotation, three ULTRA vehicles supported the relocation of a brigade command post, covering 12 kilometers while moving command elements and demonstrating autonomous convoy operations at operational tempo.

The company also said the vehicles carried counter-UAS payloads capable of detecting and tracking aerial threats during the exercise, expanding their battlefield role beyond logistics and reconnaissance.

The Fort Polk rotation was observed by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, underscoring the Army’s growing interest in autonomous land systems that can reduce risk to personnel while sustaining operations over long distances.

Founded in 2022 and based in Seattle, Overland AI develops off-road autonomous systems for military use, including the software, sensors, control architecture, and manufacturing needed to field platforms at scale.