"Lockheed Martin recently reported that a Black Hawk helicopter built by its Sikorsky subsidiary and outfitted with the company's MATRIX autonomy system, developed under DARPA's Aircrew Labor In-cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program, flew a trio of practice missions at Michigan's Camp Grayling in August. At the helm was an Army National Guard Sergeant First Class who "trained in less than an hour" and "became the first soldier to independently plan, command, and execute OPV [optionally piloted] Black Hawk missions using the system's handheld tablet.""
"In short, a non-aviator was given a handheld tablet and managed to fly a Black Hawk that, while carrying an aircrew, was without a pilot at the controls - and it flew a full 70 nautical miles (80 miles, 129 kilometers) away in the course of the trial. The OPV Black Hawk has flown prior missions, but only in the hands of Sikorsky's own team. DARPA first approved the program in October 2024,"
"According to Lockheed Martin, the 70-nautical-mile mission saw the OPV Black Hawk, which can still be piloted by a human if needed, execute a cargo resupply flight planned and commanded by a soldier from a Coast Guard boat on Lake Huron. After dropping off cargo, the National Guard operator used the tablet to send the bird back over Lake Huron, where it flew in "racetrack patterns over the lake while soldiers onboard completed two precision parachute drops,""
A National Guard Sergeant First Class trained in under an hour to use a handheld tablet to plan, command, and execute optionally piloted Black Hawk missions. The Black Hawk was outfitted with Lockheed Martin's MATRIX autonomy system developed under DARPA's ALIAS program. The OPV Black Hawk flew a 70-nautical-mile cargo resupply mission from a Coast Guard boat on Lake Huron, dropped cargo, and then flew racetrack patterns while soldiers onboard completed two precision parachute drops. DARPA provided Sikorsky $6 million to outfit one Black Hawk, and the craft remains pilotable by a human if required.
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