Forterra, May Mobility Join Military Robotaxi Trials
Two firms were selected among six teams in the third phase of a U.S. military autonomous vehicle challenge.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Robotics
Forterra and May Mobility were selected among six teams in the third phase of the ROADS challenge, a U.S. military programme worth up to $30 million that aims to put self-driving vehicles on military bases. Mapping for the pilot starts in November 2026.
Why it matters
The pilot would let soldiers book vehicles on demand through an app instead of being pulled from training to drive. The results will shape any wider adoption of autonomous vehicles across military installations.
May Mobility will supply its driving system on purpose-built vehicles, and Forterra will run the fleet through its OneLink platform, which gives base leaders a live map of every vehicle. The specific technical performance targets for the military vehicles were not specified in the available material.
The players
Forterra
Forterra is an autonomous systems company that has fielded over 250 systems for US defence programmes.
May Mobility
May Mobility is an autonomous driving company that has given over 550,000 commercial rides covering 1.1 million miles.
The details
Soldiers will book the vehicles through an app, and safety operators will ride along during trials. Forterra has previously run robotaxis for soldiers at Fort Bragg.
Timeline
Mapping for the ROADS challenge pilot starts in November 2026.
Demonstrations run through to the end of 2026.
Roadmap
The ROADS challenge moves autonomous military transport from earlier trials into a third phase with six selected teams. The programme tests whether self-driving vehicles can operate on US military bases at scale.
If adopted, the service would let service members request vehicle rides from an app rather than leaving training to drive. This would change how personnel move around large installations.
The takeaway
Autonomous military transport is moving from demonstration toward testing on real bases, and the ROADS results will indicate whether the approach scales.
What happens next
Mapping for the ROADS challenge pilot begins in November 2026.
Further reading
Explore more coverage in Robotics for context on autonomous systems.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Automotive World.
