Overview
- A U.S. Army National Guard sergeant first class, trained in under an hour, used a handheld tablet to plan and command an Optionally Piloted Black Hawk during August’s Northern Strike 25-2 at Camp Grayling, Michigan.
- The MATRIX-powered aircraft delivered cargo 70 nautical miles away and executed multiple precision parachute drops under soldier control.
- First-time autonomous tasks included an airborne external hookup of a 2,900‑pound water tank, six hovering hookups to move HIMARS launch tubes, and a simulated MEDEVAC recovery directed from inside the aircraft.
- Operations were conducted in partnership with DARPA and the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency, with one scenario planned from a U.S. Coast Guard vessel on Lake Huron.
- Reporting notes uncertainty over whether safety pilots were aboard during the exercise, as Sikorsky promotes continued testing and its new cockpit‑less S‑70UAS U‑Hawk prototype for future logistics roles.