DARPA advances OPV flight trials
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Sikorsky recently trialled technology that can turn any helicopter into an optionally piloted vehicle (OPV), with plans now to demonstrate the software package in a UH-60 Black Hawk.
US Army and Sikorsky pilots demonstrated the technology in mid-October at Fort Eustis, Virginia, as part of the third phase of DARPA’s Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS), which aims to develop a tailorable, drop-in, removable kit that would enable the addition of high levels of automation to an existing aircraft. The demonstration was conducted using the Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft (SARA), a
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