Lockheed's Sikorsky converts UH-60L BLACK HAWK into autonomous U-Hawk aircraft

Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company (NYSE: LMT), has converted a UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter into the S-70UAS U-Hawk, an autonomous unmanned aircraft system. The company completed the transformation in 10 months, replacing the cockpit with clamshell doors and integrating fly-by-wire controls with MATRIX autonomy technology.

The U-Hawk features 25% more cargo space than a standard Black Hawk after removing the cockpit section and internal components. The aircraft can transport up to four Joint Modular Intermodal Containers compared to two in the original configuration, and accommodate larger cargo including missiles and uncrewed ground vehicles.

Sikorsky displayed the prototype at the Association of the United States Army exposition this week. The aircraft is designed for multiple mission types including cargo transport, launching drone swarms, and carrying internal fuel tanks for extended range operations.

"We developed this prototype from concept to reality in under a year, and the modifications made to transform this crewed Black Hawk into a multi-mission payload UAS can be replicated at scale quickly and affordably," said Rich Benton, Sikorsky vice president and general manager.

The U-Hawk maintains the original aircraft's external lift capacity of 9,000 pounds and can self-deploy over 1,600 nautical miles or loiter for up to 14 hours without refueling. Operators control the aircraft using a tablet interface that manages all functions from startup to shutdown.

The MATRIX autonomy system generates flight plans automatically and uses cameras, sensors and algorithms for navigation. First flight is scheduled for 2026, according to the company's announcement.

Sikorsky Innovations, the company's rapid prototyping group, led the redesign and structural modifications of the UH-60L aircraft into its unmanned configuration.

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