DARPA’s ALIAS program was used to fly the helicopter autonomously.
DARPAThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has flown a UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter without a pilot for the first time ever. DARPA’s Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System program was used to fly the helicopter on autopilot over Fort Campbell, Kentucky, on Saturday.
The Black Hawk was kitted out with Sikorsky Matrix autonomous flying technology, and DARPA says it repeated the “uninhabited flight” on Monday.
“Pilots can focus on mission management instead of the mechanics,” Stuart Young, program manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, said in a statement. “ALIAS … includes the ability to operate aircraft at all times of the day or night, with and without pilots, and in a variety of difficult conditions, such as contested, congested, and degraded visual environments.”
The US military has been working on autonomous helicopters for years, with the unmanned MQ-8C Fire Scout making a 7-minute test flight back in 2013.
DARPA has also been working on self-flying aircraft technology for years, like helicopter robotic landing gear, delivery drones and X-Planes.
