Two Black Hawks, No Pilots Input: Sikorsky Completes First-Ever Autonomous Formation Flight
For the first time, two Black Hawk helicopters flew side by side in fully autonomous formation — with no crew at the controls. The milestone signals that autonomous military aviation has moved from the test range into operational reality.
Two Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters have completed a fully autonomous formation flight, operating side by side without any pilot input. The aircraft navigated, coordinated, and completed the flight entirely through onboard systems — a demonstration that autonomy at formation scale is no longer experimental.
The feat was made possible by Sikorsky's MATRIX™ autonomy suite, which serves as the technological backbone of the effort. The system uses onboard cameras, sensors, and algorithms to generate and execute a flight plan automatically. Operators interact through a tablet, entering mission objectives while the aircraft manages the flying.
What Is the ALIAS Program?
The formation flight is the latest milestone in DARPA's Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program, a long-running effort to develop advanced automation that can be integrated into existing military aircraft. Launched with Sikorsky in 2020, the program's goal has been to create a system capable of reducing pilot workload, enhancing safety, and enabling fully autonomous or reduced-crew operations across a range of mission profiles.
MATRIX, developed by Sikorsky as a Lockheed Martin company, forms the core of ALIAS. It is designed to work across both rotary and fixed-wing platforms, and is built to handle complex missions in low-altitude, obstacle-rich, or contested environments — day or night, in degraded conditions.
Key Milestones to Date
2020 — Fly-by-wire integration. Sikorsky added fly-by-wire flight controls to the Army's experimental UH-60M airframe, designated the H-60Mx, laying the hardware foundation for full autonomy.
2021 — First supervised autonomous flight. An S-70 Black Hawk completed autonomous takeoff, landing, and obstacle avoidance scenarios — all controlled via tablet — in a first-of-its-kind demonstration.
2022 — World's first uninhabited Black Hawk flight. At Yuma Proving Ground, a pilotless Black Hawk autonomously performed cargo resupply, external load delivery, and a casualty evacuation mission — flying 83 miles while carrying 500 pounds of medical supplies.
2025 — First soldier-planned autonomous mission. At Northern Strike 25-2, a U.S. soldier became the first to plan and execute an autonomous Black Hawk mission in an operational environment, using MATRIX in a live exercise.
March 2026 — Technology transferred to the Army. Under a formal agreement between DARPA and the Army's Project Manager for Utility Helicopters, the H-60Mx was delivered to the Army's Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) for advanced operational testing. The aircraft will serve as a flying laboratory for expanding autonomous capabilities.
2026 — Autonomous formation flight. Two Black Hawks complete a fully autonomous side-by-side formation flight — the most complex demonstration of the program to date.
With the H-60Mx now in Army hands and formation flight demonstrated, the focus shifts to operational integration. DEVCOM will use the aircraft to explore advanced mission profiles, including reduced-crew logistics, casualty evacuation, and operations in contested airspace. Sikorsky has positioned MATRIX as a long-term platform, with the Army expected to rely on Black Hawk variants through the 2070s.
