Airbus demos MQ-72C unmanned helicopter to US Army with Shield AI autonomy
Airbus flew a self-funded demonstration of its MQ-72C unmanned helicopter for the U.S. Army near Huntsville, Alabama, completing five flights that included complex hovering and standard takeoff and landing patterns. During one test, the aircraft autonomously decided how to reroute around a no-fly zone that appeared mid-flight, with the onboard safety pilot never taking control. The MQ-72C is based on the UH-72B Lakota and was developed with L3Harris, Shield AI and Parry Labs, carrying forward and rear-facing LiDAR plus a nose electro-optical camera, with Shield AI's Hivemind autonomy software interpreting the data and making decisions. Airbus said that since this summer the aircraft has been commanded via a Parry Labs ground control station over Starlink, giving it beyond-line-of-sight control at ranges up to about 70 miles (roughly 113 km).
As air assault ranges stretch to hundreds of miles, autonomous resupply may determine whether the U.S. Army's future operating concept is practical.