U.S. Marine Corps Pursues Sikorsky's Fully Autonomous U-Hawk Cargo Helicopter

The U.S. Marine Corps has signaled strong interest in Sikorsky's U-Hawk, a fully autonomous variant of the Black Hawk helicopter with no cockpit, as it seeks to modernize front-line logistics and reduce pilot workload in contested environments. Unveiled at the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) conference in October 2025, the U-Hawk represents a significant shift in military aviation—replacing traditional pilot stations and flight controls with autonomous flight capabilities powered by the MATRIX autonomy system developed in partnership with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).