Back in the day, there was one of the usual jibes that military folks tend to toss back and forth at each other, that involved helicopters, that being "Helicopters can't really fly. They're just so ugly that the Earth repels them." Now, that's objectively untrue. The Apache attack helicopter, in particular, is an intimidating-looking thing, and the first thought that comes to mind when viewing one is generally "ooh, cool." But service people like to crack jokes at each other's expense, at least, that is, until the shooting starts. Then we're all on the same team.
But now the Sikorski people, a proud old name in rotary-wing aviation, have come up with something completely different: A Black Hawk helicopter with no cockpit. It's unmanned and semi-autonomous. And, yeah, that is also pretty cool.
Any soldier who has spent time around an Army Black Hawk would find most of the U-Hawk, as Sikorsky is calling it, familiar — its size, shape, rotors and even green paint job are largely unchanged from the Army’s workhorse troop carrier. But the new front end — along with the lack of pilots — may strike former passengers or crew alike as strictly sci-fi.
Sikorsky engineers replaced the cockpit and nose of the UH-60 with clam shell-style opening doors wide and tall enough for an ATV-sized vehicle to be driven onboard via a built-in ramp.
“You could imagine this aircraft conducting collaborative combat aircraft operations as a loyal wing man with a crewed aircraft,” Ramsey Bentley, director of advanced concepts and innovations at Sikorsky, told reporters Monday. “It’s flying in ahead of the soldiers as it comes into the area of operations. It dispenses launched effects. Command of those launched effects are turned over to the soldiers coming in on the next aircraft.”
Here, watch:
This is a fascinating new take on a helicopter that's been around since my own service years, and I'm no spring chicken, let me tell you.Read More: President Trump Ensures the Troops Get Their Payday Despite the Democrats' Best Efforts
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Doing away with a human crew allows the U-Hawk to carry more cargo, and longer cargo, like missiles. But according to Lockheed Martin's video (Lockheed Martin is the parent company of Sikorsky), the U-Hawk will be able to do a lot of things. It can be controlled from the ground, or it can be programmed to fly along a certain route. It can, reportedly, even seek out emergency landing areas. It can deliver remotely-controlled vehicles, it can deliver munitions, it can launch drone swarms, all without putting a human crew in harm's way.
And if there's one thing grunts like, it's not being put in harm's way. Being able to revoke the birth certificates of bad guys from a distance has always been the Army's preferred method.
The U-Hawk was revealed Monday at the Association of the U.S. Army's annual conference in Washington. The new robo-chopper is in testing at the Yuma Proving Grounds, and the goal is to have it make its first flight sometime in 2026.
The message to bad guys? We don't have to come after you in person. We can send Robo-Chopper after you. Think on that, and tremble!
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