Sikorsky Awarded Autonomous Black Hawk Grant

The Defense Advanced Projects Agency has awarded Stratford-based helicopter-manufacturer Sikorsky $6 million to integrate an autonomous flight system on the U.S. Army’s UH-60M Black Hawk.

The Lockheed Martin-owned company will install the ALIAS/MATRIX flight system to test a range of autonomous flight capabilities.

Sikorsky has already tested the autonomous flight system over hundreds of flight hours on its UH-60A fly-by-wire optionally piloted Black Hawk.

The award follows a successful demonstration of the system to U.S. military officials earlier this year, with Sikorsky planning on integrating the MATRIX system in the newly designated MX helicopter next year. 

Testing will explore practical applications and operational concepts for scalable autonomy and include evaluating sensor systems and developing standards and specifications.

Modernization

“Autonomy-enabled aircraft will reduce pilot workload, dramatically improve flight safety, and give battle commanders the flexibility to perform complex missions in contested and congested battlespace, day or night in all weather conditions,” Sikorsky vice president and general manager Rich Benton said in a statement.

“Soldiers will rely on Black Hawk helicopters into the 2070s, and modernizing the aircraft today will pay dividends for decades across Army Aviation’s current and future aircraft.”

The MATRIX autonomy system forms the core of DARPA’s Aircrew Labor In-cockpit Automation System program.

How do you command a Black Hawk® helicopter to perform a mission autonomously from 300 miles away? Click the video to find out. 👇 #AUSA2024

— Sikorsky (@Sikorsky) October 17, 2024

As part of ALIAS in 2020, Sikorsky provided the hardware and engineering support to add fly-by-wire flight controls to the MX aircraft.

When combined with the MATRIX autonomy system, the MX aircraft will be a near-exact copy of the UH-60A, the company’s flying lab.

In 2022, Sikorsky and DARPA completed the first uncrewed, autonomous helicopter flight with a UH-60 Black Hawk at the U.S. Army’s Fort Campbell base in Kentucky.