Robinson Helicopter on March 9 announced the launch of its new Robinson Unmanned business unit, and detailed a new unmanned cargo helicopter offering utilizing Sikorsky’s autonomy capability.
With Robinson Unmanned, the company said its portfolio of capabilities will include subsidiary Ascent AeroSystems’ line of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) along with larger uncrewed platforms based on its existing R44 and R66 helicopters.
“The move marks a significant structural shift for Robinson, transitioning from a traditional rotorcraft manufacturer to a provider of scalable, autonomous vertical flight systems. By combining five decades of its high-volume, vertically integrated manufacturing expertise with advanced autonomous technology, Robinson Unmanned aims to provide the market with reliable, high-volume manned and unmanned airframes for missions that require accessible and reliable readiness,” Robinson Helicopter said in a statement.
Paul Fermo, who is currently president of Ascent AeroSystems, has been tapped to lead the new Robinson Unmanned unit.
“At Robinson Unmanned our primary mission is to expand customer capability through mass deployment of unmanned vertical lift,” Fermo said in a statement. “Our competitive edge lies in Robinson’s vertically integrated manufacturing and scalability, which allows us to deliver aircraft-grade performance at a cost structure built for high-volume operations. Furthermore, our purpose-designed architecture allows us to scale effortlessly from single-system precision to complex, coordinated swarm missions.”
Sikorsky Collab
Under a collaborative agreement, Robinson Unmanned and Sikorsky are working on the new R66 Turbinetruck unmanned cargo platform, based on the former’s rotary wing platform integrated with the latter’s autonomy capability.
“This collaboration with Sikorsky allows us to extend the reach of the R66 into new mission-sets, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to building scalable, integrated unmanned systems,” David Smith, CEO of Robinson Helicopter, said in a statement. “We’ve taken years of flight-proven maturity and together we have optimized it for the future of autonomy. The R66 Turbinetruck offers an affordable and attritable custom cargo architecture designed for one thing: getting critical assets into the field autonomously and reliably.”
The Turbinetruck involves reconfiguring the R66’s design without a cockpit or crew stations, with Robinson adding the aircraft features a “high-volume fuselage, cargo floor and a nose-mounted clamshell door to facilitate rapid loading of palletized freight” with an internal payload capacity of up to 1,300 pounds.
Lockheed Martin and M1 Support Services are currently vying for the Army’s Flight School Next competition to modernize rotary-wing pilot training, and both are offering Robinson’s R66 as the service’s new training helicopter.
The work to transform the manned R66 into an autonomous capability is a similar project to Sikorsky’s U-Hawk announced last October which involved converting a UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter into a large unmanned platform.
“We view the U-Hawk and R66 Turbinetruck as complementary bookends that meet emerging customer needs across defense and commercial segments, delivering seamless capability wherever the mission demands,” Rich Benton, vice president and general manager of Sikorsky, said in a statement.
Sikorsky has also been testing MATRIX on the Black Hawk for several years, noting it allows the platform to be operated from a tablet, and last fall a U.S. Army soldier operated an autonomous helicopter to conduct a series of logistics missions at an exercise.
“Like the Sikorsky U-Hawk, once loaded, an operator inputs mission goals via the MATRIX tablet. The MATRIX autonomy system automatically generates a flight plan, relying on cameras, sensors and algorithms to help navigate the Turbinetruck safely to its destination,” Sikorsky said in a statement.
Along with Sikorsky, Robinson Unmanned also has a strategic agreement to utilize Rotor Technologies’ autonomy suite and said it plans for “others to follow.”
Along with R66 Turbinetruck, Robinson Unmanned’s portfolio of Group 3 and 4 UAS will include the R44 Airtruck “heavy-lift platform built for cargo transport, resupply and persistent surveillance missions” and R44 Sprayhawk “precision aerial application platform purpose-built for agricultural and environmental operations,” both of with utilize Rotor Technologies’ RPX autonomy capability.
Robinson said the establishment of its Unmanned business also serves as the “formal integration of Ascent AeroSystems,” noting as the parent company it “maintains all previously earned security and supply chain certifications under Ascent Aerosystems, including CMMC Level 2 and the SPIRIT’s Blue UAS status.”
In turn, Robinson Unmanned will offer Ascent AeroSystems line of Group 1 and 2 small UAS, to include the “pocket-sized, hand-deployable” nano Helius UAS, the Spirit multi-mission UAS and the Spartan “coaxial platform designed for extended endurance, multi-sensor integration and scalable enterprise and defense operations.”
“For current customers, defense partners, and technology integrators, this transition ensures total continuity of all existing product support, technical roadmaps, and program commitments remain in place,” Robinson Unmanned said in a statement. “These operations are now further strengthened by Robinson’s extensive manufacturing scale, increased production investment, and long-term operational stability in the United States”
The Pentagon the week of March 9 week selected Ascent AeroSystems as one of 11 companies to receive prototype orders under the first phase of the two-year Drone Dominance effort to equip warfighters with hundreds of thousands of relatively inexpensive one-way attack drones.