Modern technologies are gradually blurring the line between manned and unmanned aerial vehicles. Thus, during a series of test flights at the US Army training ground, Arizona, a demonstration mission of the Black Hawk helicopter was carried out in a fully autonomous mode as part of the Project Convergence 2022 (PC22) program.
One of the main goals of the training is that it is clear that helicopters like the Black Hawk can be used both manned and unmanned when the combat situation is too dangerous for the crew, or when it comes to performing simple, routine missions.
In the checks, a UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter was developed, equipped with Sikorsky’s Matrix technology and an automuzzle system. Thanks to the use of a conventional army helicopter into an autonomous aircraft capable of performing the functions of an autopilot, respond to emergency situations without human intervention.
During one of the demonstration flights, 400 boxes weighing 228 kg were loaded onto an airborne helicopter, which were then delivered to the test site, and the helicopter demanded, transferring further control of the MATRIX system. In a fully autonomous mode, the car flew about 140 km at a speed of 185 km/h and an altitude of 60 m.
At the next stage, the UH-60A Black Hawk was equipped with a 12-meter 4-pound assault force weighing 1180 kg. After a half-hour flight, the operator instructed to land – the helicopter lowered the cargo to the ground, landed and waited for a mannequin imitating the wounded to be loaded on board.
After that, the helicopter ended up in the medical center, while stepping on the BATDOK on-board health monitoring device transmitted real-time information about the state of the “American” waiting medical team.
Source: Tech Cult
