Robinson launches unmanned unit and cargo helicopter program with Sikorsky
Robinson Helicopter has launched a new unmanned business and unveiled an autonomous cargo helicopter project with Sikorsky. The move broadens Robinson’s role from a conventional rotorcraft maker into a supplier of scalable vertical-lift systems for defense and commercial missions that need lower-cost, high-volume aircraft.
The new unit, Robinson Unmanned, brings together Ascent AeroSystems’ small drone portfolio with larger uncrewed aircraft derived from Robinson’s R44 and R66 helicopters. Paul Fermo, president of Ascent AeroSystems, will lead the business. Robinson said the new structure is meant to pair its vertically integrated manufacturing model and decades of production experience with autonomous flight technologies that can support wider deployment across logistics, surveillance, resupply and other missions.
Its first headline program is the R66 Turbinetruck, an unmanned cargo aircraft developed with Sikorsky. The platform is based on the R66 helicopter but removes the cockpit and crew stations in favor of a larger cargo configuration. Robinson said the aircraft will feature a high-volume fuselage, a cargo floor and a nose-mounted clamshell door for faster loading of palletized freight. Internal payload capacity is listed at up to 1,300 pounds. Sikorsky is supplying its MATRIX autonomy system, which allows an operator to enter mission goals on a tablet while onboard cameras, sensors and algorithms generate and execute the flight plan.
The program mirrors Sikorsky’s broader push to convert crewed helicopters into autonomous platforms, including its previously announced U-Hawk effort based on the UH-60L Black Hawk. Sikorsky said the two aircraft are intended to address different ends of the emerging market for large uncrewed vertical-lift systems. Robinson Unmanned is also working with Rotor Technologies, whose RPX autonomy suite will be used on the R44 Airtruck cargo and surveillance platform and the R44 Sprayhawk aircraft for agricultural and environmental work. Robinson said additional autonomy partnerships could follow as the portfolio expands.
The new business also formalizes the integration of Ascent AeroSystems into Robinson’s structure while preserving its existing security and supply-chain credentials, including CMMC Level 2 and Blue UAS status. That gives Robinson Unmanned a product range that now stretches from hand-deployable and nano-class systems to Group 3 and 4 uncrewed helicopters. The timing matters. Military demand for affordable autonomous aircraft is rising, and commercial operators are also looking at unmanned logistics and specialty missions. Robinson’s push could strengthen competition in cargo UAS and widen the market for converted helicopter-based autonomous aircraft.