Bemannet eller ubemannet? Ja takk, begge deler

Army accepts first pilot-optional Black Hawk helicopter for testing

By 

COREY DICKSTEIN

STARS AND STRIPES • March 20, 2026

The U.S. Army officially received a groundbreaking H-60Mx Black Hawk helicopter, extensively modified to fly with or without a pilot at the controls. (U.S. Army)The Army this week accepted its first optionally piloted Black Hawk helicopter, a modified version of Sikorsky’s workhorse utility chopper that can be flown by pilots in the cockpit or by troops on the ground, the service announced Friday.

The OPV Black Hawk will soon enter a testing program to determine how and if the Army can integrate the aircraft into its inventory, according to a Friday news release. The delivery comes after more than a decade of work on the first-of-its-kind helicopter led by Sikorsky — which is owned by defense giant Lockheed Martin — and the Defense Advanced Research Projects  Agency, known as DARPA.