Welp, DARPA just flew a Blackhawk helicopter with no pilot

[underpants]

WELP, DARPA JUST FLEW A BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER WITH NO PILOT
https://futurism.com/the-byte/black-hawk-helicopter-no-pilot

The eerie aircraft is equipped with a new AI from Lockheed Martin dubbed the “Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System,” according to a DARPA press release. It allowed the chopper to fly itself for 30 minutes during a test flight on February 5.

Intriguingly, the system is designed to be easily fitted into “existing manned aircraft.” Plug and play — except it’s a killer robot potentially armed with deadly weapons.

The new flying killbot was ostensibly created to give the Army “operational flexibility,” Stuart Young, program manager at DARPA, said in the release. This means pilots can focus on other priorities during missions rather than flying a whole helicopter.

[qazplm135]

1. Blackhawks don't usually have weapons

There's value in freeing up a pilot from the drudgery of flying to a combat zone so they are fresh when they get there and combat maneuvers are needed.

[Kid Berwyn]

2. Drones don't talk back, call in sick, unionize...

Nor do Terminators.

[jmowreader]

11. And neither do US Army warrant officers

[Kid Berwyn]

13. The difference is Warrant Officers in the U.S. Army...

…will not follow an illegal order.

[jmowreader]

14. While this is true...

...what "illegal orders" could be issued to the crew of a transport helicopter?

[Kid Berwyn]

17. Add the technology to a weapons platform.

Say some orders up an Apache stacked with Hellfire missiles to operate remotely or autonomously. The mass casualties, war crimes, and treasons are infinite.

Not that the current civilian and military leadership would do any of that, but I do remember one President Johnson and two different President Bushes lying America into illegal, unnecessary and disastrous wars.

[jmowreader]

18. As opposed to an MQ-9 Reaper?

While what you are saying is a plausible scenario, if you want to remotely commit “mass casualties, war crimes and treasons” we already have Hunter-killer drones in the US fleet. We had the Predator for many years, and now we have the Reaper. (The difference between the two is the engine: a Predator has a piston engine that runs on aviation gasoline, and the Reaper has a turboprop engine that runs on jet fuel. This is important because no manned aircraft in the military runs on gasoline so Predator units had to bring their own.) Reapers can carry Hellfire missiles. Why go to all the trouble of turning an Apache into a UAV when we already have UAVs?

[Tommymac]

3. AI and unmanned weapons systems are the new 21st Century combat reality.

And will be until we have to revert to sticks and stones in the 22cd.

[Johnny2X2X]

4. Not that big a deal

We’ve had remote technology for a good while. This advancement is designed to allow the crew to do other things while the helicopter flies itself. It’s is a far cry from an AI making kill/no kill decisions.

And drone technology has never been an issue for me. They are still piloted remotely and just like if a pilot was in the plane the remote pilot reads his instruments and uses the cameras on the outside of the aircraft to identify targets. Bomber pilots aren’t looking at their window to make decisions on what to bomb, they’re looking at the same screens remote drone pilots are.

[DavidDvorkin]

5. Terminator! Cylons!

Or maybe Robocop.

Or maybe Asimov's robots.

[Hugin]

6. Eh, it's been done...

[Oneironaut]

7. The Blackhawk is a transport chopper and isn't armed with weaponry accessible by the pilot.

Nor the copilot either. Guns are usually mounted on each side. It isn’t an attack helicopter - it’s typically used to transport soldiers.

Also, I seriously doubt we’re anywhere close to remote piloted transport choppers. There are too many decisions with passengers’ lives at stake.

[DFW]

8. I can't even ask my brother any more

Not that he was allowed to tell me anything when he was working. A lot of his work was done for DARPA, although weapons systems weren't his thing.

But he retired a year ago, and he lost his security clearance, his cell phone number, and a lot of other stuff he says he doesn't really miss. Although he still can't tell me what he did, when, where, or exactly for whom, at least NOW he can tell me what he did over the last week, and where he had been! Mostly to the store or walking the dogs!

[Happy Hoosier]

9. Cool but....

Automated flying is not new. We’ve had automated lanidng systems for decades and I’ve worked on the X-45 and X-47B programs more than a decade ago. Now MQ-25 will make a lot of that stuff a daily reality.

[lame54]

10. Did it stop at stop signs?

[jmowreader]

12. So...basically an autopilot for the UH-60

I suspect this isn’t set up to automate slingloading or any of the other special mission work the UH-60 does.

[milestogo]

15. "pilots can focus on other priorities during missions rather than flying a whole helicopter"

What do pilots need to do that is a higher priority than flying?

[Hugin]

16. Wordle.

[jmowreader]

19. Ask an airline pilot

EVERY airliner currently in operation has a system on it that does what this does, and it’s always used.

“Watching the ground for guys carrying SA-7 missiles who want to shoot you down” is the first thing that comes to mind.