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With its most recent test flight, an autonomous Black Hawk helicopter proved it could successfully complete cargo resupply missions without the aid of human pilots.
The chopper was able to transport 400 units of real and artificial blood weighing 226 kg around the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona for 133 kilometers (83 miles) in mid-October without any crew on board (500 pounds). Even lower than 61 meters (200 feet) above the ground, the helicopter had to enter a valley as part of this journey.
Last month, during a different test, a crewless helicopter took off with a 1,179 kilogram (2,600 pound) weight strapped to a 12-meter (40-foot) sling and flew for 30 minutes at 100 knots toward a landing area.
In order to replicate the evacuation of a wounded soldier, a training operation was also created in which a model of a casualty was loaded onto the helicopter and transported to a field hospital.
Igor Cherepinsky, director of Sikorsky Innovations, stated in a statement that “we demonstrated how the optionally piloted Black Hawk helicopter may be flown by human pilots, who then land the aircraft and simply flip a switch to begin flying with zero pilots.”
Without any people on board, Cherepinsky continued, “the aircraft flew at 100 knots to transport a significant amount of blood product, an external freight load, and rescue a victim.”
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin business, are working together on the project for the US Army (DARPA). The most recent batch of flights was immediately followed by the helicopter’s first successful flight, which took place back in February 2022.
The ALIAS (Aircrew Labor In-cockpit Automation Set) project of DARPA and Sikorsky’s MATRIX technology, a system of software and hardware components that allows helicopters and fixed-wing planes to fly with increasing degrees of autonomy, are used to enable the vehicle to fly autonomously.
The creators think this technology has the potential to transform the battlefield if further testing goes smoothly.
“Whether we’re talking about manned or unmanned vehicles, ALIAS has the ability to completely change the way that war is fought. “These demonstrations highlight what ALIAS has to offer for transition to our services by lowering burden, enhancing safety, and enabling new missions,” Dr. Stuart Young, the DARPA ALIAS Program Manager, said in a statement following the February flight.
