Lockheed Martin completes first autonomous Black Hawk flight

The Lockheed Martin autonomous Black Hawk helicopter, which uses ALIAS technology, does not require actual pilots and can therefore execute a 30-minute mission to demonstrate its ability to adapt to a variety of mission environments.

The Black Hawk helicopter is able to fly through a simulated cityscape and avoid obstacles in real-time with ALIAS activated. An on-board sensor simulation provides the helicopter with data about obstacles in its path, allowing it to autonomously avoid them and land safely.

"This capability will allow pilots to confidently switch back and forth between autonomy and piloted modes at any point of their mission with the literal flip of a switch. This will support autonomous flight during a wide range of missions such as flight in degraded visual environments (DVE) and confined areas. Most critically, ALIAS will be capable of automatically detecting and preventing dangerous situations that lead to accidents, thereby saving lives," said Benjamin Williamson, lead test pilot for the Fort Campbell event.