Army's Autonomous Black Hawk: A New Era of Aviation

0:00The U.S. Army has received its first UH-60 MX Black Hawk helicopter designed to fly with a pilot without one or under remote control. Built by Sikorsky, a unit of Lockheed Martin, this next-generation craft marks a big push toward autonomous aviation in the military fleet. It features the matrix autonomy suite, which acts like a digital co-pilot for takeoff, navigation, landing, obstacle avoidance, and low visibility. Ops! A fly-by-wire system swaps mechanical controls for electronic ones, making it easier to handle tough conditions. Army leaders see this as a key milestone to modernize aviation and cut risks for soldiers in harm's way. The tech boosts, mission success, and sets a future network systems across the force. This builds on the defense advanced research projects agencies Air Crew Labor and Cockpit Automation System started over a decade ago. Past tests on Black Hawks logged hundreds of flight hours, including a crewless 30-minute flight in 2022. Now entering real-world evaluations with pilots and engineers,

1:06the helicopter will test remote and independent missions aiming for a scalable kit that could outfit the whole Black Hawk lineup and change how the Army fights. That's your update from Dallas News Today, powered by AI.