The U.S. Army has been testing fully autonomous helicopters developed by Lockheed Martin, the U.S. government’s largest defense contractor, as it moves toward deploying aircraft that can operate without pilots.

The U-Hawk, an autonomous version of the Black Hawk helicopter, a mainstay of the military aviation market since the 1970s, is expected to begin flying later this year, said Dan Tenney, Lockheed Martin’s senior vice president of global business development and strategy.

Autonomous helicopters could be deployed for logistical resupply missions, medical evacuations and fighting wildfires, another area in which the company has been expanding its efforts.

The new technology comes as Lockheed Martin seeks to expand its presence in Latin America, where it has recently delivered conventional Black Hawk helicopters to the Brazilian Army.

The company’s two main regional hubs are in Chile and Colombia, but it supplies defense equipment to several countries across Latin America. Its footprint could grow as the Donald Trump administration seeks to strengthen U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere, with security cooperation playing a central role.

In August, Lockheed Martin announced an industrial partnership in Peru involving the joint production of drones.

A company spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Lockheed Martin expects to continue expanding in Latin America through a combination of local presence, investment and partnerships.

Partnerships, the spokesperson said, are the foundation of the company’s business.

Autonomous technology

The technology powering the U-Hawk is called Matrix, a nondeterministic autonomous system that does not rely on predefined waypoints, for example.

“It can be operated from the ground or from anywhere, completely autonomously. You can even deploy a ground vehicle to rescue someone if necessary,” Tenney said. In such systems, pilots would increasingly become mission “managers” rather than directly controlling the aircraft.

“It reads the environment around it. It receives data from space and other resources and can redirect its flight path,” the executive explained.

The advanced autonomy platform has already been integrated into 20 different types of aircraft, including fixed-wing planes, helicopters and smaller drones.

“You could have a combat aircraft, a helicopter or something similar that can operate without a human pilot on board. These aircraft could have the capability to carry out strikes, interceptions and other similar operations, and they could be remotely controlled,” Tenney said.

The software can also execute emergency procedures, allowing aircraft to respond more quickly and precisely when unexpected situations arise.

Lockheed Martin maintains that the U-Hawk is safe. The next question, the company says, is how comfortable national leaders will be with deploying fully autonomous aircraft. The U.S. defense contractor supplies equipment to more than 50 countries worldwide.

AI safety concerns

The technology is moving toward deployment amid intense debate in the United States over the risks of artificial intelligence, an issue expected to feature prominently in the 2028 presidential campaign.

President Donald Trump is an enthusiastic supporter of AI and has sought to rebrand it as “superintelligence,” while Democrats are exploring how to respond to public concerns about the technology.

Although autonomous systems have many potentially beneficial applications, from delivering critical supplies and fighting fires to neutralizing hostile drones, their broader implications must also be considered, said Steve Feldstein, a senior fellow and director of the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“My argument is not that autonomous technology should be banned. I don’t think that is practical or realistic. However, I believe it is essential that we maintain human oversight and effective control over these devices,” Feldstein said.

The researcher warned that numerous unpredictable factors could cause autonomous vehicles to malfunction or operate inaccurately. He also addressed the issue before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Human Rights Commission in September.

“The essence of my testimony is that military applications of this technology require special scrutiny because of the potential harm they can cause. But the technology more broadly should also be subject to regulatory restrictions and rigorous oversight to ensure that its development and operation are safe and reliable,” Feldstein told Valor.

“Just as we have established regulatory standards for motor vehicles, holding companies accountable when brakes fail or other components are defective, we need a similar system of oversight and control for autonomous devices,” he said.

Human oversight

Tenney said Lockheed Martin is working to address those concerns as it develops increasingly sophisticated autonomous systems.

“We work closely with leading AI companies to ensure that we have safety measures in place,” he said. “We will always implement safeguards that allow humans to make the final decisions.”

Lockheed Martin’s platforms are also designed with countermeasures to protect against interference, including cyberattacks.

“We have many security capabilities built into our systems that I can’t discuss specifically, but I can say that they are protective measures,” Tenney said.

Rising defense demand

Lockheed Martin recognizes that it is operating in an increasingly dangerous world, a trend that has fueled demand for its defense technologies.

“We have never seen demand like what we are seeing for many of our capabilities,” Tenney said.

In July, the company reported a record order backlog of $230 billion.

Second-quarter sales rose 11% from a year earlier to $20 billion, while profit reached $1.84 billion, up from $342 million in the same period of 2025.

The company plans to invest up to $9 billion by 2030 to expand its manufacturing capacity and develop new factories. Lockheed Martin currently operates 342 facilities worldwide, including factories, offices and research centers.

*By Anaïs Fernandes— Arlington, Virginia

Source: Valoar International

https://valorinternational.globo.com/