Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, has announced the successful flight testing and delivery of the U.S. Army’s experimental UH-60MX Black Hawk helicopter fully integrated with its MATRIX autonomy suite. The handover, reported on March 23, 2026, from Fort Eustis, Virginia, marks a key milestone in the Army’s development of open-architecture, mission-supported autonomy and optionally piloted flight capabilities.
The UH-60MX mirrors Sikorsky’s UH-60A fly-by-wire Optionally Piloted Black Hawk, which accumulated hundreds of flight hours under Sikorsky and Army aviator testing, including a flight commanded by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in November 2025. This delivery introduces the U.S. Army’s first full authority fly-by-wire and optionally piloted UH-60 platform.
Sikorsky and the Army collaborated in 2025 to retrofit the UH-60MX with fly-by-wire flight controls before integrating the MATRIX system. The Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) will leverage the aircraft to evaluate autonomy features, enabling seamless transitions between manned, optionally piloted, and fully autonomous operations. It supports development of techniques, tactics, and procedures (TTPs) for such systems.
Sikorsky’s MATRIX kit, core to DARPA’s Aircrew Labor In-cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program, has been installed across Army Black Hawk variants: UH-60A, 60L, and 60M. The suite provides automated landing-zone detection, obstacle avoidance, real-time terrain awareness, and operations in degraded visual environments, reducing pilot workload and lifecycle costs through its open architecture.