More Autonomy to Renown Transport Helicopter

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Optionally piloted capabilities to a helicopter that is the U.S. Army’s primary medium lift utility transport and air assault aircraft. Since making its first flight in May, Sikorsky’s optionally-piloted UH-60A Black Hawk helicoper has flown a combined 54.5h and tested several autonomous flight functions.

Optionally-piloted aircraft offer a hybrid between a conventional piloted aircraft and an unmanned aerial vehicle. The test helicopter was retrofitted with a full authority fly-by-wire Optionally Piloted Vehicle (OPV) kit developed by Sikorsky. Additional layers of autonomy on the UH-60A are being tested, gradually allowing the OPV kit to take over the finer points of flying. The company plans to test fully autonomous flight on the UH-60A in 2020.

Over the past several months, the company has demonstrated three levels of flight control, claiming its optionally piloted vehicle can shift quickly between different levels of autonomy with a push of a button. 

The OPV kit is based on Sikorsky’s Matrix autonomy technology, which the company has been demonstrating on a modified S-76B, called the Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft (SARA). SARA uses a clutch to direct the aircraft’s manual flight control system, whereas the OPV kit is entirely fly-by-wire.

As reported by flightglobal.com, Sikorsky sees SARA as a “sandbox” for testing autonomous flight control functions, which later can be rolled out to the OPV UH-60A. By installing a fly-by-wire system in the oldest Black Hawk variant, the mechanically-controlled UH-60A, the company aims to show that it could upgrade the US Army’s entire fleet of utility helicopters.

Ultimately, the company envisions operators or third-party developers being able to create customized autonomous flight control apps to run on its OPV kit for different missions. For example, a pilotless UH-60A could be programmed to autonomously fly cargo resupply missions differently for the US Army or US Navy. This could contribute to effective transport and soldiers’ safety.