DARPA ALIAS Equipped Sikorsky UH-60A Black Hawk Helicopter Completes First Autonomous Flight

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program completed a first ever flight of a UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter without anyone onboard. Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, completed 30-minutes of uninhabited flight with the optionally piloted vehicle (OPV) over the U.S. 

Army installation at Fort Campbell, Kentucky on February 5th. An additional uninhabited flight was also conducted on February 7th. The Black Hawk was retrofitted with Sikorsky MATRIX™ autonomy technologies that form the core of ALIAS and can change the way aviators and air crews execute their missions by providing assistance when flying with limited visibility or without communications.

Sikorsky UH-60A Blackhawk OPV, N600PV (79-23298) during its first unmanned flight at Sabre AHP, Tennessee

“With reduced workloads pilots can focus on mission management instead of the mechanics. This unique combination of autonomy software and hardware will make flying both smarter and safer. With ALIAS, the Army will have much more operational flexibility. This 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,” said Stuart Young, program manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office.

Sikorsky UH-60A Blackhawk OPV, N600PV (79-23298) during its first unmanned flight at Sabre AHP, Tennessee

ALIAS is a flexible, extensible automation architecture for existing manned aircraft that enables safe reduced crew operations, which facilitates the addition of high levels of automation into existing aircraft. It also provides a platform for integrating additional automation or autonomy capabilities tailored for specific missions. The ALIAS program has leveraged the considerable advances in aircraft automation systems over the past 50 years, as well as similar advances in remotely piloted aircraft. Even in today’s most automated aircraft, pilots must still manage complex interfaces and respond to unexpected situations.