Sikorsky Aircraft is making parts for an autonomous flight kit arising from its Matrix research program. The manufacturer plans to fly the kit on a UH-60A Black Hawk late next year to demonstrate its potential as an optionally piloted vehicle (OPV).

In July 2013, Sikorsky started flight tests of an autonomy system consisting of fly-by-wire flight controls and multiple situational awareness sensors on its Sikorsky Autonomous Research Aircraft (Sara), an S-76. Last year, it demonstrated an optionally piloted UH-60M Black Hawk that it was using for an M-model upgrade, a fly-by-wire version the U.S. Army chose not to order. Sikorsky is also working with Carnegie Mellon University to demonstrate the capability of an optionally piloted UH-60MU to deliver an unmanned ground vehicle as an external load in a project sponsored by the Army’s Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center.

Igor Cherepinsky, Sikorsky chief engineer of autonomy, said the manufacturer is moving the autonomy system developed on the S-76 Sara testbed to a UH-60A Black Hawk it acquired last year to demonstrate “a true, kittable” production version of the system. “We’re building up the next generation of Black Hawk fly-by-wire and autonomy,” said Cherepinsky, who spoke with AIN during the recent Unmanned Systems 2015 conference in Atlanta. “We’ll show the world what the kit looks like and show the missions where you have operators in front, in the cabin or on the ground.”

The program has entered the critical design review phase “and we’re starting to make parts,” Cherepinsky said. Sikorsky expects to fly the modified helicopter late next year.

Sikorsky continues to use the S-76 Sara testbed to verify simulation results, and as of this month had flown the helicopter some 78 hours in autonomous mode with a safety pilot aboard. The manufacturer has finished doing basic obstacle-avoidance research and is moving toward a more obstacle-rich environment to test the helicopter, Cherepinsky said.

At the Unmanned Systems conference, Sikorsky displayed a UH-60M Black Hawk with Matrix markings to demonstrate the scale of what is possible. Ultimately the manufacturer wants to interest the Army in an optionally piloted, multi-mission helicopter, whether it be a Black Hawk or some other platform, as the Matrix system is “platform agnostic,” Cherepinsky emphasized.

“We really want to have a dialogue with the Department of Defense about OPVs,” he said. “Our view on the world is we are trying not to go to either extreme,” with manned or unmanned aircraft. “Our view is that it’s a whole spectrum. There are plenty of missions where you want a pilot or at least an operator on board an aircraft. Matrix enables that operator to control the vehicle a lot more easily; it’s much easier to fly.”