Futuristic helicopter has no cockpit or pilot

By Dean Murray

A futuristic military helicopter has been unveiled with no cockpit.

The new Black Hawk chopper variant is autonomous, so it can fly into war zones without a pilot.

It can then open large front-facing doors to unload battle cargo, including weapons and vehicles.

The helicopter can launch swarms of reconnaissance or strike drones and drop off uncrewed ground vehicles through its clamshell doors.

Its extra cargo room also enables it to transport oversized loads, such as armaments like a HIMARS pod of six rockets or two Naval Strike Missiles.

Manufacturers Sikorsky said Monday (Oct 13) it took ten months from concept to reality to transform a UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter into the S-70UAS U-Hawk.

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They describe it as a versatile autonomous unmanned aircraft system (UAS) that has 25% more cargo space than a typical Black Hawk.

The ability to carry internal fuel tanks means it can loiter for up to 14 hours without refueling and offers an increased range of 1,840 miles.

A tablet gives an operator full command of the U-Hawk from start-up to shut down.

Rich Benton, Sikorsky vice-president and general manager, said: "Sikorsky is innovating a 21st century solution by converting UH‑60L Black Hawks into a fully autonomous utility platform.

"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.

"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."

Sikorsky add: "By removing the cockpit, all seats and crew stations from the aircraft, the U-Hawk helicopter becomes the first fully autonomous Black Hawk utility helicopter."