FORT POLK, La., April 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Overland AI successfully completed an operational deployment with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division (3-82) at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC), Fort Polk, Louisiana. Over the course of a month-long Combat Training Center rotation, four ULTRA autonomous ground vehicles were fully integrated into the Brigade’s scheme of maneuver. They executed contested logistics, reconnaissance, and counter-UAS missions alongside Soldiers in one of the U.S. Army’s most rigorous operational training environments.
“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 deployment marks a significant milestone in validating autonomous ground vehicle technology at the Brigade level under realistic large-scale combat operations (LSCO) conditions, with direct observation by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George during the rotation.
3-82 Soldiers loading ULTRA AGV for resupply mission at JRTC.
Operational Results
Four ULTRA autonomous ground vehicles demonstrated clear operational value across multiple mission types during the rotation, operating across 10+ kilometer maneuver distances in day and night conditions:
- Contested Logistics: Resupply operations powered by ULTRA reduced distribution timelines by approximately 50%, improving the brigade’s ability to sustain operations.
- Deception Operations: ULTRA executed an 8-kilometer resupply to a sniper team operating in a contested environment with active OPFOR presence. Soldiers planned and executed the mission autonomously, using one ULTRA as a decoy to reduce risk to the resupply vehicle. This improvised tactic developed organically in the field.
- Brigade-Level Reconnaissance: Following direct tasking from the Brigade Commander, ULTRA conducted forward route reconnaissance that identified obstacles ahead of the objective, informed engineer breach planning, and directly shaped the Brigade’s scheme of maneuver.
- Command Post Relocation: Three ULTRAs covered 12 kilometers to support a Brigade command post relocation, demonstrating autonomous convoy and distributed logistics capability at operational tempo.
- Counter-UAS Operations: ULTRAs equipped with counter-drone payloads detected and tracked aerial threats in the operational environment, expanding the autonomous ground vehicles’ mission set beyond logistics and reconnaissance.
Four ULTRA AGVs configured for multiple mission sets across cUAS and ISR.
Building Toward Scale
JRTC was an important milestone both for Overland AI and the ground autonomy industry more broadly. The rotation confirmed that Soldiers will pull autonomous capability when it solves real problems, and that the demand signal from operational units is strong enough to drive programmatic adoption at scale. The exercise was reported on by Axios.
An Overland AI team member trains a 3-82 Soldier on OverDrive mission planning.
About Overland AI
Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Overland AI builds autonomous land systems to defend the United States and its allies. The company is filling a capability gap with off-road autonomy that takes on the critical tasks that put humans at greatest risk. Overland AI products span the full stack across autonomy software, the sensors and control systems that enable perception and maneuver, and in-house manufacturing to deliver autonomous assets rapidly and at scale.
Learn more at www.overland.ai
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