# DARPA Tests Autonomous Vehicles at Fort Knox

DARPA demonstrated four RACER-enabled unmanned ground vehicles working together at Fort Knox on October 15, 2026. The vehicles used a satellite-imagery cue to reach a simulated engagement, with a human required to approve each engagement; DARPA plans payload integration and soldier feedback in December. The demonstration points to potential future needs in autonomous mobility, sensing, payload integration, and human-in-the-loop control, but the signal identifies no open solicitation, award value, or contract number.

- Defense contractors can assess whether their autonomous vehicle, sensor, payload-integration, and human-control capabilities align with the program’s planned next steps.
- The human-approval constraint is a key system-design consideration: mobility and detections were autonomous, while engagement remained under human authorization.
- December’s planned payload integration and soldier feedback are program milestones, not a stated procurement deadline or solicitation. No immediate bid opportunity is identified.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Defense & Military
**Topics:** Artificial Intelligence
**Published:** October 25, 2026

### Government Entities
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
- United States Army (U.S. Army)

### Vendors
- Anduril ()
- Overland AI ()

### Key Quotes
> It’s controlled engagement. All the mobility, all the movement, all the detections, all of that is autonomous. But they don’t pull the trigger until a human says pull the trigger.
> — Dr. Jason Gregory, Technical Advisor at DARPA

### Sources
- [DARPA tests autonomous vehicles that team up to find enemy targets](https://defence-blog.com/darpa-tests-autonomous-vehicles-that-team-up-to-find-enemy-targets) - The Defence Blog