An unmanned UH 60A Black Hawk helicopter was flown for the first time Saturday at Fort Campbell using ALIAS technology developed by DARPA.
The DARPA Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System, which goes by the acronym ALIAS, completed the first-ever flight without anyone onboard. Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, completed 30-minutes of uninhabited flight with the optionally piloted vehicle over the U.S. Army installation at Fort Campbell. An additional uninhabited flight was also conducted Monday.
DARPA Alias Program Manager Stuart Young says it was an exciting day at Fort Campbell.
click to download audioYoung says the next step is to provide the technology to the U.S. Army to allow them to further develop it.
click to download audioIgor Cherepinsky with Sikorsky innovations says this vehicle was completely unmanned, unlike previous autonomous flights that included someone on board in case of an emergency.
click to download audioHe adds the aircraft was put tested through a simulated flight over New York to test the capabilities of the system.
click to download audioThe Army is currently exploring potential use cases for technologies such as ALIAS, including those outlined in the U.S. Army’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program.
Within the next month, the ALIAS program plans to conduct the first flight of a fly-by-wire M-model Black Hawk at Fort Eustis, Virginia.
