US Army accepts its first optionally piloted UH-60Mx Black Hawk with MATRIX autonomy

Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky S-70UAS U-Hawk

The Army formally took delivery of its first H-60Mx Black Hawk, which can fly with or without pilots aboard. It uses the same fly-by-wire controls and MATRIX autonomy that Sikorsky and DARPA developed over more than a decade, the technology behind the fully uncrewed U-Hawk.

• First flight of the optionally piloted aircraft came in 2022.
• In October 2025 training in Michigan, a National Guard soldier with no aviation background learned to fly it remotely by tablet in under an hour.
• Fly-by-wire makes the aircraft more stable and easier to handle when piloted.
• Sikorsky is developing the fully crewless S-70UAS U-Hawk on the same basis.