US military conducts historic trial as soldier remotely navigates Black Hawk helicopter

A US soldier has successfully carried out live missions of a Black Hawk helicopter by navigating it remotely, marking the first time a non-pilot or non-test engineer has independently operated the aircraft being located outside of it.

Trained in under an hour, a US Army National Guard Sergeant First Class controlled the Sikorsky rotorcraft via a handheld tablet equipped with the Matrix flight autonomy system, performing logistics and aerial delivery missions, as reported by The Defense Post.

This effectively turned the helicopter into an optionally piloted aircraft (OPA), which describes flight vessels that are being navigated from outside the aircraft, with or without a pilot present in the cockpit.

The milestone occurred during the Northern Strike 25-2 military exercise in August, with the aircraft's manufacturer Lockheed Martin, releasing further details in October.

The demonstration showed how an autonomous Black Hawk can extend operational reach, lower risk to personnel, and allow non-aviator soldiers to safely operate sophisticated aircraft through intuitive control systems.

“In contested logistics situations, a Black Hawk operating as a large drone offers commanders greater resilience and flexibility to get resources to the point of need,” said Rich Benton, VP and general manager of Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company.

During the exercise, the Matrix-enabled optionally piloted Black Hawk demonstrated a range of autonomous capabilities, including precision parachute drops, logistics recovery, external sling load of a water tank, HIMARS sling transport, and a simulated medical evacuation.

In one operation, a soldier completed a Class 1 resupply mission from a Coast Guard vessel 70 nautical miles (130 kilometres) away, successfully executing two precision parachute drops at different altitudes — the first logistics and airborne drops ever conducted fully under soldier control.

The helicopter then autonomously hovered as troops secured a 1,315-kilogram water tank, completing its first autonomous external sling load, showcasing its capability for aerial resupply.

Subsequently, the aircraft transported HIMARS launch tubes autonomously to a designated location.

In the final drill, an untrained soldier used the aircraft to simulate a medical rescue, transferring a casualty from the autonomous Black Hawk to a piloted helicopter on rough terrain — further underscoring the system’s versatility and potential for real-world missions.

By Nazrin Sadigova