Thus, a demonstration mission of the Black Hawk helicopter was conducted completely offline during a series of test flights over the US Army’s Yuma training ground, Arizona, as part of the Project Convergence 2022 (PC22) program.

One of the main goals of the exercise is to prove that helicopters like the Black Hawk can be used in both manned and unmanned versions when the combat situation is too dangerous for the crew or when it comes to performing simple routine tasks. UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter equipped with Sikorsky MATRIX technology and DARPA ALIAS crew automation system participated in the exercises. Thanks to them, an ordinary army helicopter turned into an autonomous aircraft capable of responding to emergencies without human intervention, as well as performing the functions of an autopilot.

During one of the Black Hawk Demonstration flights, 400 boxes weighing 228 kg were loaded onto the helicopter, which the crew delivered to the test area, and then it left the helicopter, handing more controls to the MATRIX system.

In fully autonomous mode, the machine flew about 140 km at a speed of 185 km / h and at an altitude of 60 m. At the next stage, a 12-meter cable with an external load of 1180 kg was connected to the UH-. 60A Black Hawk. After half an hour of flight, the operator ordered the device to land – the helicopter lowered the cargo to the ground, landed and waited for a dummy imitating the wounded to be loaded onto the ship. The helicopter then went to the medical center, and the BATDOK onboard health monitoring device relayed real-time information about the “victim”‘s condition to the waiting medical team.