“The aim was to reduce the complexity of flying, enhance safety and allow pilots to focus on higher-level mission tasks,” the Army said.
DARPA described the transition of the H-60Mx to the Army as the “capstone achievement” for ALIAS.
“The ALIAS program has successfully developed and demonstrated a powerful, flexible automation architecture that is now poised to provide the U.S. Army with a significant operational edge,” Stuart Young, DARPA’s program manager for ALIAS, said in a statement. “This transition is a testament to the power of government and industry partnership to advance technology. It will allow the Army to build on a solid foundation of technical-risk reduction, enabling them to explore new warfighting concepts and push the boundaries of what’s possible in aviation.”
In February 2022, DARPA and Sikorsky conducted the first ever completely unmanned, autonomous flight with a Black Hawk as part of an ALIAS demonstration with no safety pilots onboard.
Sikorsky has noted that its MATRIX technology allows a Black Hawk to be operated from a tablet, and last fall a U.S. Army soldier for the first time employed an autonomous helicopter to conduct a series of logistics missions at an exercise.
“The Army now has a new tool that furthers its vision laid out in the Army Transformation Initiative to mature and qualify pilot supported autonomy,” Rich Benton, vice president and general manager of Sikorsky, told sister publication Defense Daily on Friday. “This capability will enhance mission effectiveness and survivability for warfighters today and lay the groundwork for tomorrow’s networked systems.”
What’s Ahead
DARPA said the transition of the H-60Mx to Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) marks the end of the research and development phase, with the Army now turning to “advanced operational testing.”
“This next phase will focus on integrating advanced mission-specific sensors and exploring the unprecedented operational flexibility afforded by reduced-crew and fully autonomous flight,” DARPA said.
Looking ahead, the Army said over the coming months test pilots and engineers will “put the OPV Black Hawk through its paces.”
“These tests are designed to validate how seamlessly the aircraft can be controlled from the ground, how it performs in complex, real-world mission scenarios on its own and how this technology can be used to keep soldiers safer and more effective,” the Army said.
The H-60Mx will serve as the “primary testbed” for the for the Army’s Strategic Autonomy Flight Enabler (SAFE) program, which is intended to develop a “universal and scalable autonomy kit that can be installed across the Army’s entire fleet of hundreds of Black Hawk helicopters and integrated into the designs of future aircraft.”
As the Army plans to continue flying Black Hawks for decades, officials have cited a priority for continued modernization of the UH-60 fleet and in August 2025 awarded Sikorsky a $43 million deal for engineering efforts, to include airframe enhancements, building out a “digital backbone” capability and work to integrate with launched effects.
“By proving out this technology, the Army aims to unlock a new era of aviation. One that will not only save lives but also ensure that critical missions can be completed under any circumstance. The delivery of this first OPV Black Hawk is more than just a hardware handover; it’s a tangible step toward a future where technology and soldiers work together in new and powerful ways to ensure mission success,” the Army said.
A version of this story originally appeared in affiliate publication Defense Daily.