Airframer
NewsPress release

Press release

Skyryse, U.S. Army partner to make helicopters more capable, easier to fly, and optionally-piloted

14/01/2025

Press releaseIssued by Skyryse.
Skyryse, U.S. Army partner to make helicopters more capable, easier to fly, and optionally-piloted
Rendering of Black Hawk helicopter cockpit powered by Skyryse's SkyOS universal flight operating system. · Photo: Skyryse

Skyryse, the creator of SkyOS, the world's first universal operating system for flight, has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Army to develop solutions to reduce time to train for pilots, increase interoperability between aircraft, and deliver optionally-piloted capability which could be applied to their fleet of 2,400 Black Hawk helicopters, among others.

This collaboration aims to explore and integrate SkyOS to enhance the safety, simplicity, and operational efficiency of aircraft such as the already versatile and reliable Black Hawk for military applications.

Through this Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), Skyryse will work alongside Army aviation experts to leverage SkyOS's highly-automated capabilities – simplified pilot operations, autonomy, enhanced safety features, and capability to operate both with and without pilots – for the unique needs of military missions.

"Skyryse is honored to partner with the U.S. Army to make military helicopters like the Black Hawk simpler and safer," said Dr. Mark Groden, CEO of Skyryse. "By combining the Army's operational expertise with Skyryse's leadership in rotorcraft flight controls and automation, we have a unique opportunity to make flying simple and safe enough that any serviceperson can fly any aircraft. This CRADA underscores our commitment to creating safer solutions for all aviation – both civilian and military."

The collaboration aligns with the Army's strategic focus on modernization and aims to provide pilots with intuitive controls and automated systems that reduce workload, enhance mission effectiveness, and improve overall safety in complex operational environments. Under the CRADA, the partnership will also conduct joint testing and validation, ensuring that the new solutions meet the rigorous standards required for Army aviation.

The industry ledger — an Analytics feature — collects the dated facts behind stories like this one, filterable by theme, company, program, country and date. See a worked example →

In this release

Programs covered
Sectors covered

People in this release

Mark GrodenFounder & CEO · SkyRysein

Where we hold a LinkedIn profile it’s marked — the links come with a subscription.

Your news here

Submit your press releases

Send releases and photographs to news@news.airframer.com — the pick of them reach Bulletin readers every Thursday.

Every Thursday

The Airframer Bulletin

The week’s aerospace manufacturing news, reported by our editors and delivered free to your inbox. Sign up ›

Go deeper

Who supplies whom?

Subscribers see the confirmed supply chain behind every story — complete supplier lists for each aircraft program, sector and company. See the plans ›

Spotted something wrong or out of date on this page? Tell us

Corrections go straight to the editorial team that maintains this directory.