U.S. Army Receives First Optionally Piloted Black Hawk

The U.S. Army has taken delivery of its first Black Hawk helicopter that can fly without a pilot. Sikorsky announced on Monday that it had finished integrating and testing its Matrix autonomous flight technology on the optionally piloted Black Hawk, known as the UH-60MX, and delivered it to the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) in Fort Eustis, Virginia.

Equipped with both Matrix autonomy software and full-authority fly-by-wire controls, the experimental UH-60MX is the Army’s first Black Hawk with fully autonomous flight capabilities. According to Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, DEVCOM will use the aircraft to develop tactics, techniques, and procedures for the use of uncrewed aircraft in defense operations.

“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,” said Sikorsky v-p and general manager Rich Benton. “This capability will enhance mission effectiveness and survivability for warfighters today and lay the groundwork for tomorrow’s networked systems.”

Sikorsky’s UH-60MX Black Hawk is based on the UH-60A Optionally Piloted Vehicle (OPV), a technology demonstrator that the company has been flying experimentally for more than a decade as part of DARPA’s Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program. The OPV achieved its first fully autonomous uncrewed test flight in 2022. In 2024, DARPA awarded Sikorsky a $6 million grant to install and test the system in an Army Black Hawk.

“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,” said Stuart Young, the ALIAS program manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office. “This transition is a testament to the power of government and industry partnership to advance technology.”

Army engineers collaborated with Sikorsky to integrate the Matrix system and install fly-by-wire flight controls in 2025. Sikorsky has now tested its Matrix flight automation software on all three U.S. Army Black Hawk models: the UH-60A, -60L, and -60M.

The UH-60MX will serve as the primary testbed for the Army’s Strategic Autonomy Flight Enabler (SAFE) program. According to the Army, the goal of SAFE is to develop a universal, scalable autonomy kit to retrofit the service’s entire fleet of hundreds of Black Hawks. Over the coming months, Army test pilots and engineers will evaluate the aircraft in autonomous and remotely piloted modes across complex real-world mission scenarios.

Meanwhile, Sikorsky is also developing an uncrewed cargo variant of the UH-60L Black Hawk known as the U-Hawk. The company expects to begin test flights with its first U-Hawk prototype later this year.