Polaris' RZR side-by-side is one of the most ubiquitous UTVs around the world, and it's understandable why. It's basically the do-everything platform. Just from Polaris alone, you can go mudding, hunting, set it up for fishing or camping excursions, rock crawling, and everyone's favorite, go faster than an F-14 launching off a carrier. It's also basically indestructible.
So it's understandable why militaries around the globe, including our own, have sought out the machines for all their clandestine and out-in-the-open operations in theaters of war or military conflicts. It's also why Polaris has an entire division that's solely focused on government contracts, which also includes the brand's snowmobiles, and a prototype tank.
But Polaris isn't the only one out there modifying its vehicles for combat. There's a whole cottage industry within the military industrial complex space that takes these consumer models and up-fits them with everything and anything soldiers or militaries would need on the battlefield, basically turning them into the modern Toyota Hilux—though, everyone still loves the Hilux.
That said, I didn't have am AI-powered Polaris RZR drone on my Bingo card for 2025. Nor would it have been as armed to the teeth as this one from Overland AI.
Meet the Ultra.
According to the Seatle-based company, "ULTRA is a revolutionary autonomous, uncrewed ground vehicle built for the battlefield. Modular, attritable, and designed to operate beyond line of site in contested environments, ULTRA delivers unmatched mobility and combat power," adding that it was "built for the unforgiving."
The basis of the Ultra is a Polaris RZR, but that's just the base as it's not only gone an autonomy makeover with Lidar, sterocam, and a cost map, which tells the autonomous vehicle whether it should head in a certain direction or not, but it also looks to have been extensively modified to be even more rugged than how it left the factory.
In Overland AI's spec sheet, it states that while it's reduced the RZR's top speed to just 35 mph, it still maintains a 114 horsepower 999cc engine, and because it doesn't have a cab, can safely carry over 1,000 pounds for its payload. That means it's able to be equipped with all manner of necessary equipment, including a ACS Bullfrog remote weapon station, and even be used as an unmanned aerial drone launching station to ensure militaries can go deeper without the issue of putting soldiers into harms way. Overland AI also says it could be used to resupply troops, and used as a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) detection and mitigation workhorse.
The RZR drone has also been gifted bigger tires and beadlock wheels, beefier axles, and more to ensure that it can plow through whatever terrain and be unaffected on its mission. And that's the idea, as Overland AI states that the company's offerings are meant to "Never risk a human life for a job a robot can do."
As for deployment, the Ultra RZR drone is currently being tested by the United States Army, including with the use of paratroopers. According to Army Times, the robotic UTV was assessed at the Vaziani Training Area in Georgia during an every-other-year exercise. The outlet states that the "Ultra ran resupply tests for 60mm and 120mm mortar units. Soldiers with the 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry, 173rd Airborne Brigade had practiced with the system months before the exercise."
Whether or not the military adopts the Ultra is the next question, but given its push toward use of drones, AI, and more within that space to keep soldiers from dying on the future's battlefields, there's more than a good enough chance the Ultra sees combat in the near future.
