Jay Clemens
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. and the U.S. Army have demonstrated an autonomous version of the Black Hawk helicopter to further work on cargo delivery methods.
The company and the Army flew the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter by using Sikorsky’s Matrix and ground control station technologies, Sikorsky said Tuesday.
Mark Miller, Sikorsky vice president of research and engineering, said the autonomous Black Hawk is built to give commanders flexibility to determine crewed or un-crewed operations.
The demonstrator aircraft is part of Sikorsky’s manned and unmanned resupply aerial lifter program, the company said.
Sikorsky has worked on the technology since 2007 and signed a cooperative research and development agreement Army in 2013 to move the program forward in an effort to demonstrate a full authority flight control system.
