The DARPA Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program completed the 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 5. An additional uninhabited flight was also conducted on February 7.
The Black Hawk was retrofitted with Sikorsky MATRIX autonomy technologies that form the core of ALIAS and can change the way aviators and aircrews execute their missions by providing assistance when flying with limited visibility or without communications.