A U.S. soldier was put accountable for planning and executing missions with the Optionally Piloted Black Hawk helicopter as an alternative of a skilled aviator.
Sikorsky has introduced a brand new demonstration of the capabilities of its Optionally Piloted (OPV) Black Hawk helicopter, powered by the MATRIX know-how, and what it might deliver to the battlefield. Throughout the latest Northern Strike 25-2 train, held in Michigan in August 2025, a U.S. Military Nationwide Guard soldier was put accountable for the planning and execution of missions with the OPV Black Hawk as an alternative of a skilled aviator or engineer.
The demonstration
Sikorsky defined the state of affairs created in partnership with the Joint Personnel Restoration Company and the Protection Superior Analysis Tasks Affiliation (DARPA), and had the objective of demonstrating, in an operational surroundings, how an autonomous Black Hawk can broaden mission attain and cut back danger to troopers.
The corporate stated {that a} Sergeant First Class was skilled in lower than an hour on the way to function the system, earlier than he turned the primary soldier to independently plan, command and execute OPV Black Hawk missions utilizing the system’s handheld pill. Particularly, as a part of the train, he directed the payload to a location 70 nautical miles away and commanded a number of precision airborne drops.
Sikorsky additional highlighted how this was the primary time OPV Black Hawk operated absolutely below the management of an precise warfighter, as an alternative of a skilled take a look at pilot or engineer. In truth, this allowed to display the maturity and ease of operation of the autonomous helicopter, with out the necessity for prolonged specialised coaching.
One thing comparable was already demonstrated with the identical helicopter and pill, albeit in a smaller scale, when Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Programs President Stephanie Hill managed the OPV Black Hawk on the AUSA (Affiliation of america Military) symposium in Washington D.C. on Oct. 17, 2024. On that event, the pill linked through an information hyperlink to the helicopter 300 miles (483 km) away in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
The August train state of affairs, then again, noticed the helicopter demonstrating three forms of cargo supply, together with inside carry, exterior sling load and precision parachute drop, in addition to a medevac train. It’s unclear if security pilots have been current contained in the cockpit, nevertheless it seems that troopers have been additionally onboard.
Right here is an excerpt from Sikorsky’s press launch detailing the operations of the helicopter throughout Northern Strike 25-2:
Train 1: Parachute Drops and Logistics Restoration
From a Coast Guard boat on Lake Huron, a soldier deliberate and executed a Class 1 resupply mission from 70 nautical miles away. After the cargo was unloaded, he used the pill interface to direct the OPV Black Hawk in racetrack patterns over the lake whereas troopers onboard accomplished two precision parachute drops at totally different altitudes. It was the primary time the OPV Black Hawk carried out precision logistics and airborne drops completely below soldier management.
Train 2: Water Buffalo Exterior Sling Load
OPV Black Hawk accomplished its first-ever autonomous hookup of an exterior load whereas airborne. Utilizing its hover stability capabilities, the plane held place whereas troopers rapidly and effectively connected a 2,900-pound water tank with out pilot intervention. The demonstration confirmed {that a} MATRIX-equipped plane can carry out advanced aerial resupply missions within the area.
Train 3: HIMARS Exterior Sling Load and MEDEVAC Restoration
OPV Black Hawk accomplished six autonomous hovering hookups to move HIMARS launch tubes to an alternate touchdown zone. A soldier then used OPV Black Hawk to conduct a simulated personnel restoration, together with a tail-to-tail affected person switch to a piloted Black Hawk at an unimproved touchdown website. This was the primary time an untrained soldier commanded an autonomous MEDEVAC restoration from contained in the OPV Black Hawk plane.
OPV Black Hawk
5 years in the past, a UH-60A helicopter has been retrofitted in an Optionally Piloted Car (OPV) configuration as a part of the Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program. In 2022, the helicopter performed flights with out anybody onboard over the U.S. Military set up at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
The ALIAS program goals to deal with challenges in army aviation by lowering pilot workload and enhancing mission efficiency by means of superior automation. The MATRIX autonomy system types the technological basis for ALIAS, mixed with enhanced flight controls to allow absolutely autonomous operations from takeoff to touchdown, in addition to managing emergency conditions.
“With lives on the road, Sikorsky’s MATRIX flight autonomy system can rework how army operators carry out their missions,” stated Wealthy Benton, vp and normal supervisor of Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin firm. “An optionally piloted Black Hawk plane can cut back pilot workload in a difficult surroundings or full a resupply mission with out people on board. In contested logistics conditions, a Black Hawk working as a big drone presents commanders higher resilience and suppleness to get sources to the purpose of want.”
Such a system would permit to securely execute advanced missions in contested environments because the autonomous flight capabilities would permit pilots to shift focus from piloting-related technical duties to strategic mission administration. The system has been completely examined and has demonstrated the power to navigate advanced environments and execute missions with minimal human intervention.
S-70UAS U-Hawk
The announcement of the profitable take a look at comes few weeks after Sikorsky introduced the brand new prototype of an unmanned Black Hawk, dubbed S-70UAS U-Hawk, throughout this 12 months’s version of AUSA. This new step towards a totally autonomous utility helicopter builds on the years of experimentation with the MATRIX autonomy suite and the optionally piloted Black Hawk
The system makes use of a third-generation, low-cost fly-by-wire structure built-in with MATRIX autonomy know-how to allow uncrewed flight. Equally to the OPV Black Hawk, the U-Hawk is designed to be operated from a pill interface that manages all phases of flight, from start-up to shutdown.
The U-Hawk replaces the Black Hawk’s cockpit with actuated clamshell doorways and a ahead loading ramp, leading to 25 % extra cargo house than a traditional UH-60L. Within the configuration proven in official pictures, the clamshell “nostril” opens upward and outward, exposing a flat cargo bay the place autos or provides might be loaded immediately from the entrance.
The ramp might 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.
By eliminating the cockpit and crew stations, the U-Hawk positive factors extra inside quantity and suppleness 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.
