Optionally Piloted Black Hawk Demonstrator Helicopter

cobra commando

Tharki regiment
Senior Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2009
Messages
11,115
Likes
14,530
Country flag
Optionally Piloted Black Hawk Demonstrator Helicopter Takes Successful First Flight



April 21, 2014 WEST PALM BEACH, Florida - In cooperation with the U.S. Army, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. has successfully demonstrated optionally piloted flight of a Black Hawk helicopter, a significant step toward providing autonomous cargo delivery functionality to the U.S. Army. Sikorsky Aircraft is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX). The Optionally Piloted Black Hawk (OPBH) Demonstrator , known as Sikorsky's Manned/ Unmanned Resupply Aerial Lifter (MURAL) Program, conducted the successful first flight demonstration on March 11 at Sikorsky's Development Flight Center. The demonstration was conducted through the use of Sikorsky's Matrixâ„¢ Technologies and advanced Ground Control Station (GCS) Technologies. The OPBH demonstrated autonomous hover and flight operations while under the control of a man-portable GCS, demonstrating the capability for expeditionary operations and critical cargo resupply. "The autonomous Black Hawk helicopter provides the commander with the flexibility to determine crewed or un-crewed operations, increasing sorties while maintaining crew rest requirements. This allows the crew to focus on the more 'sensitive' operations, and leaves the critical resupply missions for autonomous operations without increasing fleet size or mix," said Mark Miller, Sikorsky Vice President of Research & Engineering.
The MURAL Program is a cooperative effort between the U.S. Army Aviation Development Directorate (ADD), the U.S. Army Utility Helicopters Project Office (UH PO) and Sikorsky.


Read more here:
Optionally Piloted Black Hawk Demonstrator Helicopter Takes Successful First Flight
 

Global Defence

New threads

Articles

Top