DARPA awards Sikorsky $6M to integrate autonomy in Black Hawk for US Army

DARPA awards Sikorsky $6M to integrate autonomy in Black Hawk for US Army
by Melissa Chadwick
Stratford, CT (SPX) Mon Oct 14, 2024

Sikorsky, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, has been awarded $6 million by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to integrate its advanced ALIAS/MATRIX flight autonomy system into the U.S. Army's experimental UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter. The newly modified aircraft, designated as the MX, will be used by the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) to assess a range of autonomous features, from assisting a single pilot to enabling fully autonomous, uninhabited flight.

According to Rich Benton, Sikorsky's vice president and general manager, "Autonomy-enabled aircraft will reduce pilot workload, dramatically improve flight safety, and give battle commanders the flexibility to perform complex missions in contested and congested battlespace, day or night in all weather conditions." He emphasized that the modernization of the Black Hawk is essential for its continued use by Army Aviation through the 2070s.

The DARPA ALIAS (Aircrew Labor In-cockpit Automation System) program relies on Sikorsky's MATRIX autonomy technology. Since 2020, Sikorsky has provided both hardware and engineering expertise to incorporate fly-by-wire controls in the MX Black Hawk. This system allows the helicopter to mirror Sikorsky's Optionally Piloted UH-60A Black Hawk, a test bed for MATRIX technology, which has already undergone extensive flight testing.

By 2025, Sikorsky will complete the integration of the MATRIX system into the MX helicopter. This will allow DEVCOM to explore the operational benefits of scalable autonomy, assess the system's potential, and develop the necessary standards for autonomous aircraft. The MX helicopter will also be equipped with a variety of sensor suites for threat detection, terrain navigation, and obstacle avoidance, providing a comprehensive platform for evaluating future autonomy concepts.

In July 2024, Sikorsky and DARPA conducted a demonstration for U.S. military personnel and Department of Defense officials, showcasing the Optionally Piloted Black Hawk's ability to be flown either by an onboard operator or remotely using a tablet to enter high-level mission commands. These demonstrations built on earlier successful autonomous missions during Project Convergence 2022, where the Black Hawk demonstrated its ability to perform cargo resupply missions without human intervention.

Lockheed Martin sees autonomous technologies like the MATRIX system as essential to its 21st Century Security initiative, aimed at modernizing platforms like the Black Hawk to address evolving military challenges.