SNC, Skyryse announce collaboration to advance software-defined flight automation for existing aircraft fleets

Collaboration combines SkyOS with SNC's aircraft modification and integration expertise to pursue a path toward piloted and optionally piloted operations on existing fleets

SNC, the global aerospace and national security company, has selected Skyryse, developer of SkyOS™, the world's first universal operating system for flight, as a collaborator in its work to bring advanced flight automation and autonomous capabilities to existing aircraft fleets, with an initial focus on defense platforms.

The partnership combines Skyryse's SkyOS flight-control hardware and software with SNC's 60-plus years of experience integrating, modifying and sustaining military and commercial aircraft. Together, the companies are looking to integrate SkyOS across a range of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft used across the services, with additional platform categories under consideration as the collaboration advances. SkyOS was integrated into a UH 60 Black Hawk and flown within just 91 days, showing how quickly advanced flight software can be added to existing aircraft.

"We built SkyOS to make aircraft safer, more capable and easier to operate, and that capability is not limited to new aircraft programs," said Mark Groden, founder and CEO of Skyryse. "The fastest way to modernize a fleet is to upgrade the aircraft already in it, and we've shown on the Black Hawk that SkyOS can do that in months, not years. SNC's certification and integration expertise gives us the path to bring a new level of automation and capability to existing fleets at scale."

"Modernizing a fleet doesn't always mean buying new aircraft," said Jon Piatt, executive vice president, SNC. "SNC has spent more than 60 years modifying and sustaining aircraft for demanding missions. Pairing that experience with SkyOS gives us a way to explore new levels of automation that can reduce operator workload, support more consistent decision-making and help crews focus on the mission. In doing so, we can expand the capabilities of the aircraft our defense, government and commercial customers depend on."

The collaboration will explore opportunities spanning aircraft integration and certification, retrofit installation and modification, and the broader deployment of SkyOS across defense and other aircraft platforms. Through its subsidiary 3S Engineering and Certification, SNC also holds an FAA Organization Designation Authorization (ODA), which provides the company with the authority to certify SkyOS integration across those platforms.

About Skyryse, Inc.

Founded in 2016, Skyryse® is an aviation technology company redefining how aircraft are operated to make flight safer, simpler and more accessible. Its core technology, SkyOS™, is the world's first universal operating system for flight, enabling a new generation of software-defined aviation and powering its first aircraft, Skyryse One™. Skyryse partners with organizations across commercial, public safety and defense sectors - including Air Methods, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), Mitsubishi Corporation and the U.S. Army - to bring advanced automation to existing aircraft and expand access to safe flight. Learn more at skyryse.com or visit YouTube to see Skyryse in action.