Black Hawk S-70UAS Conversion To Lead & Resupply Air Assault Missions

Sikorsky took the conversion of its UH-60L Black Hawk into the S-70UAS U-Hawk fully autonomous, heavy-lift cargo vehicle from concept to reality in just 10 months. The U-Hawk was modified to have 25 percent more cargo space and integrated it with MATRIX autonomy technology.

The prototype has had the cockpit replaced with clamshell doors that open to lower a loading ramp and reveal a cargo bay that can carry up to 33 tons of ammo, supplies, drone swarms, internal loads, or unmanned ground vehicles.

The mods, along with Sikorsky’s MATRIX autonomy software and a brand new fly-by-wire system, have transformed a crewed troop-carrying helicopter into a cargo platform capable of operating autonomously. The flexible, multi-mission aircraft can self-deploy over 1,600 nm / 2,960 km or remain airborne for up to 14 hours without refueling.

Rich Benton, Sikorsky Vice President and General Manager said, “We developed this prototype from concept to reality in under a year. The U-Hawk continues the Black Hawk legacy of being the world’s premier utility aircraft and opens the door to new capabilities as a UAS.”

The U-Hawk is controlled by a soldier-operator through a tablet interface. A single touch enables the clamshell doors to open, load cargo, and launch the aircraft. MATRIX software, through onboard sensors and algorithms for navigation and obstacle avoidance, controls the flight from takeoff to touchdown.

Igor Cherepinsky, Sikorsky Innovations Director said, “The U-Hawk offers a cost-effective utility UAS by leveraging commonality with the existing UH?60 fleet, and its uncrewed nature reduces both operating and maintenance costs. We focused on efficiencies in the retrofit by designing and manufacturing vehicle management computers, actuation components and airframe modifications. We will incorporate those efficiencies into future modifications and manufacturing for our family of UAS products.”

Sikorsky says the retrofit can be replicated at scale to offer a lower-cost logistics UAS that still has 95% commonality with the existing UH-60 fleet.

FMI:  lockheedmartin.com/