Skydio CEO Adam Bry spoke Thursday at the drone company’s “Ascend 2025” event at Seascape Beach Resort in Aptos, California, unveiling a new launch system for surveillance drones called Robotic Takeoff and Land (RTOL). The new launch technique is set to redefine how autonomous drones deploy and recover, with applications ranging from search and rescue missions to special forces operations.
Bry demonstrated RTOL using one of the company’s long-range F10 fixed-wing drones, launched from the bed of a Cybertruck by a robotic arm. The presentation felt straight out of the 2030s and underscored how much the West has learned from drone warfare in Ukraine. This also confirmed how America desperately needs its own drone supply chains (more here from Goldman).
“You can watch the full keynote in the link below, or just check out these sick highlights of the Cybertruck-mounted robot arm snatching F10 out of the air, R10 flying through ,” Bry wrote on X.
The robots are here and they fly.
Today at Ascend, we announced:
• R10 – a breakthrough indoor drone that uses AI and autonomy to get into the most dangerous places so people don’t have to.
• F10 – a prototype Robotic Takeoff and Land (RTOL) drone that will unlock long-range,… pic.twitter.com/JpeNx02wWP— Adam Bry (@adampbry) September 18, 2025
California-based aftermarket company Unplugged Performance’s UP.FIT appears to have secured a partnership with Skydio, but details remain scarce. Recall UP.FIT revealed the “STING” package for the Cybertruck that protects against “14.5mm heavy machine gun rounds” and “IED/mine protection” for military and defense operations.
In April, the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) included in a Statement of Objectives document for the purchase request of two Cybertrucks that all fluids and batteries from every vehicle must be removed. USSOCOM acknowledged that the Cybertruck is the most advanced truck on the market (read the report).
An upgrade from the Toyota Hilux?
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