Sikorsky Unveils Cutting-Edge Flight Autonomy Innovations for U.S. Marine Corps

Sikorsky, a division of Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), has been selected by the U.S. Marine Corps to showcase the sophisticated capabilities and dependability of the MATRIX™ flight autonomy system.

Crucial demonstration flights planned for 2025 utilizing Sikorsky’s Optionally Piloted UH-60 Black Hawk® helicopter will deliver insights to the service’s Aerial Logistics Connector initiative on how unmanned aerial vehicles can resupply and support Marines in challenging environments.

“Aircraft equipped with MATRIX autonomy can securely and efficiently perform a variety of intricate operations, including both internal and external cargo transportation without any personnel aboard,” remarked Rich Benton, Vice President and General Manager of Sikorsky. “Our partnership with the Marine Corps will assess how an autonomy-driven fleet of unmanned aerial systems, including both rotary and fixed-wing platforms, can efficiently support the expeditionary force with accurate resupply during swift, dispersed operations.”

The Marine Corps demonstrations will indicate how autonomous aircraft can ensure that future Marine forces remain well-supplied, whether they are operating from Navy ships or land-based expeditionary facilities. Furthermore, Marines will have the capability to interact with Sikorsky’s autonomous aircraft through a tablet to modify mission parameters before or after launch.

Funding for the demonstrations of the MATRIX flight system is allocated through a recent Phase 1 Aerial Logistics Connector agreement under an Other Transaction Agreement via the Naval Aviation Systems Consortium granted to Sikorsky by the Naval Air Systems Command.

Platform-agnostic autonomous solution

Sikorsky Innovations, the accelerated development and prototyping segment, has highlighted mission-essential capabilities of the MATRIX system in both military and commercial operational scenarios across various rotary and fixed-wing platforms.

Initially aimed at enhancing flight safety for crewed helicopters, the system has advanced with backing from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) ALIAS program. Notable features encompass assisted flight management for dual pilot operations, virtual co-pilot support for solo pilots, or completely autonomous flight without human oversight.

Recent MATRIX autonomy showcases

In July at Stafford Airport, Virginia, and subsequently in October 2024 at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) exhibition in Washington D.C., Sikorsky and DARPA presented autonomous flights of the Optionally Piloted Black Hawk helicopter to Department of Defense (DoD) officials.

At the October exhibition, DoD representatives on the AUSA tradeshow floor were instructed on how to transmit high-level mission objectives to the helicopter. Three hundred miles away at Sikorsky’s headquarters in Connecticut, the aircraft autonomously took off, hovered, completed a brief circuit of the flight area, and successfully landed.

These latest demonstrations build upon autonomous logistics flights carried out during Project Convergence 2022 when Sikorsky and DARPA effectively showcased to the U.S. Army how the Optionally Piloted Black Hawk helicopter, without any human presence, can safely and reliably conduct internal and external cargo resupply missions.