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News
LANSING – Michigan will begin hosting a national drone competition in 2025, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced on April 24.
Called the Unmanned Triple Challenge, the state-sponsored competition is the product of a partnership between the Michigan National Guard, the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
“We look forward to welcoming competitors next May, when they will race across land, over water, and in the air to win prizes and, most importantly, bragging rights,” Whitmer said in a news release. “By leading in this space, we will bring more jobs and investment home so we can keep building the future of mobility right here in Michigan.”
Entrants will be required to use an unmanned, autonomous drone to transport a package across Michigan – traversing air, land and water. Whitmer said she hoped to see the competition attract teams from academia, military, government and the private sector.
“Michigan’s legacy in innovation and manufacturing makes it the ideal location to achieve accelerated development and application of autonomous unmanned systems,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul D. Rogers, adjutant general of the Michigan National Guard and director of the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. “...We look forward to hosting the challenge and incorporating lessons learned by our combat-tested service members. It is exciting to imagine the possibility and create what will become an annual must-attend event for the most forward thinking innovators of unmanned systems across commercial, military and recreational interests.”
The competition will be held from May 19-22, 2025. It begins at Rogers City Quarry, goes through the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, and ends at Camp Grayling.
According to the Governor’s Office, Michigan is within the top 10 in the nation for aerospace manufacturing attractiveness, home to 600 aerospace-related companies. It also had nearly 63,000 workers employed in advanced manufacturing industries in 2023, as well as the highest concentration of electrical and mechanical engineers in the nation.