Demonstrating MATRIX Flight Autonomy to the U.S. Marine Corps

How will uncrewed or autonomy-assisted helicopters help the U.S. Marine Corps win on the widely distributed 21^st century battlefield?

Aiming to learn more, the U.S. Marine Corps sent a team to Sikorsky HQ in Connecticut. The goal: To see Sikorsky's MATRIX™ flight autonomy system in action, both in the simulator and in actual flight.

The results of the visit will inform the Marine Corps' Aerial Logistics Connector (ALC) program of the maturity and reliability of the MATRIX system, and its ability to be easily customized to specific missions.

Of critical importance is the ability of autonomous helicopters and fixed wing aircraft to resupply and sustain Marines in contested battlespace.

Two Sikorsky helicopters equipped with the MATRIX autonomy system demonstrate autonomous and autonomy-assisted missions for the U.S. Marine Corps' Aerial Logistics Connector program. Lower left, a simulated autonomous landing in mountainous terrain.

In the simulator

Sikorsky began its demonstration of MATRIX autonomy software in the simulator. ALC team members watched as a virtual helicopter flew specific missions requested by the Marines.

Military pilots then manually flew the same missions in the simulator cockpit with MATRIX technology as the virtual co-pilot.

During these assisted flights, pilots manually adjusted flight paths in real time to assess the system's mission replanning capability. They also evaluated the aircraft's ability to land with pinpoint precision on confined spaces in reduced visibility and brownout conditions.

On the flight field

The same day, on the Sikorsky flight field, ALC team members remotely commanded two MATRIX-equipped helicopters. Using a tablet, the ALC team:

• tasked Sikorsky's optionally piloted Black Hawk^® helicopter eight miles away to autonomously take off and deliver an external load to a designated landing zone near the ALC team.
  
  
• directed the Sikorsky Autonomous Research Aircraft - an S-76^® helicopter - to navigate a virtual obstacle course before reaching its objective.

Dan Shidler, director, Sikorsky Advanced Programs said the demonstrations showed how the MATRIX™ flight autonomy system can enhance the efficiency and safety of autonomy-assisted crewed flight, complete airborne missions without pilots, and allow ground command of the same uncrewed aircraft.

"Running unscripted missions in both the simulator and outside gave ALC members insight into a proven optionally piloted system that can reliably take on all flight tasks or significantly reduce a human pilot's workload when weather conditions worsen or mission complexity increases," he said. "Tablet command of aircraft from the ground showed how easy it is for a Marine, who is not a pilot, to quickly re-task an uncrewed aircraft on the battlefield."

The optionally piloted Black Hawk helicopter flies with a sling load in full autonomy mode during the ALC demonstration at Sikorsky's Stratford, Conn., HQ.

About the MATRIX system

Developed by Sikorsky in conjunction with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), MATRIX technology is designed to bring adaptable levels of flight autonomy to any fixed or rotary wing aircraft.

The system is a foundational technology to the future of all future Sikorsky VTOL products, and a potential enabling capability for the U.S. Army's Black Hawk helicopter fleet.

The software also is the flight control system aboard all VTOL UAS in development for the DARPA EVADE program.

As of August 2025, the optionally piloted Black Hawk helicopter has flown more than 700 hours of autonomous flight with the MATRIX autonomy system, demonstrating advanced flight management capabilities to the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, NASA, aerial wildland firefighters, and civil operators.