The S-70UAS U-Hawk is a modified UH-60L that removes the cockpit completely to create an uncrewed, mission-flexible platform designed for logistics, help, and future air-ground teaming missions.
After years of experimentation with the MATRIX autonomy suite and the optionally piloted Black Hawk, Sikorsky has now taken the following step towards a completely autonomous utility helicopter: on Oct. 13, 2025, through the Affiliation of the US Military (AUSA) 2025, Sikorsky introduced the brand new prototype of an unmanned Black Hawk, dubbed S-70UAS U-Hawk.
Describing the U-Hawk as a flexible autonomous plane that transforms one of many world’s most confirmed helicopter platforms into a completely uncrewed system, the corporate mentioned the plane has been developed in simply ten months.
The U-Hawk replaces the Black Hawk’s cockpit with actuated clamshell doorways and a ahead loading ramp, leading to 25 p.c extra cargo house than a standard UH-60L. Within the configuration proven in official images, the clamshell “nostril” opens upward and outward, exposing a flat cargo bay the place automobiles or provides will be loaded straight from the entrance. The ramp will be lowered for drive-on operations or sealed for flight, giving the plane a clear, aerodynamic profile with no cockpit glazing. This redesign eliminates the normal two-seat crew station and turns the entrance fuselage into an integral a part of the cargo space.
From idea to actuality in 10 months, @Sikorsky, a @LockheedMartin firm, has remodeled a UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter into the S-70UAS U-Hawk, a flexible autonomous uncrewed aerial system. pic.twitter.com/K1qlM70Fuu
— Lockheed Martin Information (@LMNews) October 13, 2025
The system makes use of a third-generation, low-cost fly-by-wire structure built-in with MATRIX autonomy expertise to allow uncrewed flight. The U-Hawk’s conversion was led by Sikorsky Improvements, the corporate’s fast prototyping group, which accomplished the transformation from idea to actuality in simply ten months.
In keeping with Sikorsky, the enlarged cargo space permits the U-Hawk to:
Settle for longer payloads resembling missiles
Allow uncrewed floor automobiles to drive on and off
Carry provides or modular containers
Launch swarms of reconnaissance or strike drones
Home inside gasoline tanks for prolonged vary or endurance
“Sikorsky is innovating a twenty first century answer by changing UH-60L Black Hawks into a completely autonomous utility platform,” mentioned Wealthy Benton, Sikorsky vp and normal supervisor. “We developed this prototype from idea to actuality in beneath a 12 months, and the modifications made to rework this crewed Black Hawk right into a multi-mission payload UAS will be replicated at scale rapidly and affordably. The U-Hawk continues the Black Hawk legacy of being the world’s premier utility plane and opens the door to new capabilities as a UAS.”
Missions
By eliminating the cockpit and crew stations, the U-Hawk beneficial properties extra inside quantity and adaptability for a wide range of mission sorts. The plane can now accommodate outsized cargo as much as its most gross weight, self-deploy over 1,600 nautical miles, or loiter for as much as 14 hours with out refueling.
Potential U-Hawk configurations embrace:
Air-ground teaming: transporting and deploying an uncrewed floor car, such because the HDT Hunter Wolf 6×6 UGV
Cargo transport: carrying as much as 4 Joint Modular Intermodal Containers (in comparison with two on a UH-60L)
Missile transport: hauling a HIMARS pod of six rockets or two Naval Strike Missiles
Launched results: deploying small drones or munitions from quivers mounted contained in the cabin
Exterior elevate: retaining the power to hold 9,000 kilos (4,080 kg) by way of its cargo hook
From Pilots to Operators
Apparently, the U-Hawk is designed to be operated from a pill interface that manages all phases of flight, from start-up to shutdown. On the contact of a button, the clamshell doorways open and the ramp lowers to permit loading or drive-on operations. As soon as the cargo is secured, the operator units mission parameters, and the MATRIX system routinely generates a flight plan.
Utilizing a mixture of cameras, sensors, and autonomous navigation algorithms, the U-Hawk can conduct absolutely automated missions and not using a pilot on board.
Value-Efficient and Scalable
By eradicating the cockpit, crew stations, and related avionics, Sikorsky has created what it calls the primary absolutely autonomous Black Hawk utility helicopter.
“The U-Hawk affords a cheap utility UAS by leveraging commonality with the prevailing UH-60 fleet, and its uncrewed nature reduces each working and upkeep prices,” mentioned Igor Cherepinsky, Sikorsky Improvements director. “We centered on efficiencies within the retrofit by designing and manufacturing car administration computer systems, actuation elements and airframe modifications. We are going to incorporate these efficiencies into future modifications and manufacturing for our household of UAS merchandise.”
The U-Hawk represents Sikorsky’s most bold step thus far in its autonomous rotorcraft roadmap, following years of testing with the optionally piloted Black Hawk and RAIDER X. If improvement proceeds as deliberate, the plane might quickly present a brand new class of uncrewed utility platforms able to working in high-risk environments the place crewed helicopters can’t.
