Autonomous Black Hawk: Sikorsky transforms UH-60L into a battle-ready UAS in just 10 months
October 13, 2025
Sikorsky is reimagining the venerable UH-60 Black Hawk for the future battlefield, unveiling a modified version that strips the helicopter of its cockpit and readies it for uncrewed cargo flights.
Dubbed the S70-AS U-Hawk, Sikorsky replaced the cockpit with clamshell doors, opening up space for 25% more cargo than a standard Black Hawk. No pilot will be required; rather, an ‘operator’ with a tablet will program the route, and a computer will fly it, guided by sensors, cameras and algorithms.
The demonstrator, converted from an ex-US Army UH-60L, took just 10 months to move from concept to concrete. Sikorsky will be showing the aircraft at the Association of the US Army’s annual conference in Washington DC, which opens today.
“Sikorsky is innovating a 21st-century solution by converting UH‑60L Black Hawks into a fully autonomous utility platform,” said Rich Benton, Sikorsky vice president and general manager. “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.”
From uncrewed Black Hawks to cargo drones
Sikorsky has been testing autonomous systems on the Black Hawk for years, notably flying the first public mission in partnership with DARPA in February 2022. Since then, it has been building on its MATRIX autonomous flight system, an integrated system of sensors, algorithms, and electronics that can fly a Black Hawk autonomously.
Removing the cockpit entirely is a natural, if rather dramatic, evolution of these efforts. Sikorsky also removed the crew chief stations, giving the entire cabin over to additional payload.
The company says the helicopter will be able to self-deploy to around 1,600 nmi range, with a total endurance without refuelling of 14 hours. However, given the additional internal space available, Sikorsky has also suggested it could carry additional internal fuel tanks to further extend this range.
Although the maximum gross weight remains the same at 10,000 bls, the front-loading door opens opportunities for new types of cargo transport. Uncrewed ground vehicles can be driven straight off, even with the rotors still turning, and swarms of reconnaissance or strike drones can be launched in mid-air.
Practically, the 25% greater cargo area translates into a significant amount of space, enabling the U-Hawk to carry up to four Joint Modular Intermodal Containers, both internally and slung underneath, up from two in the standard Black Hawk.
Rapid prototyping of the affordable U-Hawk UAS
Sikorsky aimed to keep costs low and production rapid, using standard components for much of the conversion. Critical to keeping a strict budget is the third-generation fly-by-wire system integrated with its MATRIX technology.
“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,” said Igor Cherepinsky, Sikorsky Innovations director. “We focused on efficiencies in the retrofit by designing and manufacturing vehicle management computers, actuation components and airframe modifications.”
Designing the systems has helped drive down the price point, with Cherepinsky noting that the vehicle management computers now cost tens of thousands of dollars, as opposed to hundreds of thousands when using third-party products.
“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,” added Benton.
Sikorsky says the U-Hawk can be flown with minimal training, even by operators without aviation-specific skillsets. Flight testing is expected to begin in 2026.
Sikorsky steps firmly into the UAS space
Today’s news comes just days after Sikorsky unveiled its Nomad drone family, a range of rotor-blown-wing aircraft that also utilise the MATRIX technology for autonomous flight.
The drones come in a variety of sizes, from Group 3 aircraft, the size of the Army’s retired RQ-7 Shadow, to Group 4 and 5 variants comparable to the MQ-1C Grey Eagle or even the Black Hawk. Sikorsky’s Nomad aircraft are still in the prototype stage, but the company plans to scale rapidly through the late 2020s.
Nomad are intended to lift 1,300 lbs plus; the U-Hawk can haul almost ten times that.
The U-Hawk is strategically targeted to meet the growing need for uncrewed heavy-lift and resupply in the US. Filling the gap between unmanned platforms like Nomad and giant airlifters like the C-130, it’s a novel solution that avoids the typical delays for clean sheet designs.
The US Army is in the process of retiring older UH-60s, with more than 150 set to leave the fleet. If some were to be given a new lease of life as U-Hawks, it would bring a whole new meaning to reduce, reuse, recycle.
