The military is always looking for ways to improve on what it has and one of the next new innovations to look for may be a pilotless Blackhawk helicopter.The Blackhawk has proven itself since Grenada and remains the tactical workhorse for the US Army. It is a highly sought after piece of equipment by other countries and has undergone many modifications by the US military.
The new concept is for an optionally piloted helicopter which may be flown pilotless, with one pilot or with two depending on the tactical situation.
I can definitely see how this will allow our aviation ring customers to be more flexible. It will allow the commander to exercise some options for performing the mission that were otherwise not available to him. In modern warfare the commander needs to have every possible option that we can possibly give him for the simple face that modern conflict is more unpredictable than ever.
In addition Sikorsky will experiment with more modifications in order to increase the speed of the Blackhawk, to allow it to see through the dust storm generated on takeoff and landing, and to evaluate its own performance.
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