Unpiloted Military Helicopter

More autonomous devices. 

Unpiloted Military Helicopter Flies 134 km in Simulated Mission

By New Scientist, November 7, 2022

A Black Hawk helicopter flying autonomously.

The helicopter flew as low as 60 meters above the ground at 185 kilometers per hour between mountains, relying on onboard sensors to avoid crashing into anything.

As part of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's ALIAS program, the U.S. Army flew an autonomous Black Hawk Helicopter at 185 kph (115 mph) as low as 60 meters (197 feet) above the ground for 134 kilometers (83 miles) to deliver 230 kilograms (507 lbs.) of simulated and real blood.

The helicopter flew between mountains using onboard sensors to avoid a collision.

The program is testing Sikorsky Innovations' MATRIX technology, a drop-in kit that can transform helicopters into autonomous aircraft.

Sikorsky's Igor Cherepinsky said, "It's a truly autonomous system. Once you explain what the mission is, you don't even need a data link–the aircraft makes all the decisions."

From New Scientist

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Military Aviation Automation Operations

Though we are still working with pilots interacting with systems, as apparently happened in the recent 737 systems.   We will soon have to consider many such collaborative systems.

Aviation Automation Climbs New Heights With ALIAS 
Federal Computer Week   By Lauren C. Williams

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)'s Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) project aims to develop autonomous artificial intelligences (AIs) to improve flight safety and performance in battlefield operations. ALIAS' goals include producing a customizable, drop-in, removable kit so fewer onboard crew members will be needed on military aircraft. With its initial fly-by-wire experiment led by Sikorsky scheduled for completion in May or June, ALIAS would enable advanced automation to be added to existing aircraft. DARPA in 2016 proved the effectiveness of the effort's sensory and avoidance capabilities with a Cessna 172G aircraft, approaching an unmanned aerial system from multiple angles. DARPA's Lt. Col. Philip Root said once a fly-by-wire AI has been successfully demonstrated, "we can begin adding the autonomy flight controls—operating in the background like a lane assist [feature in cars that helps] the human operator avoid a tree."