The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted Aurora Flight Sciences a flight worthiness certificate for its UH-1H optionally-piloted helicopter, the AEH-1.
With this latest certification, announced Nov.1, Aurora is permitted to advance development and testing of aircraft with Optionally-Piloted Aircraft (OPA) capabilities and only a safety pilot required to monitor controls.
“The Special Airworthiness Certificate is a significant validation of the program’s capabilities by the FAA,” said Aurora CEO John Langford in a statement. “The OPA technology not only enhances the UH-1H system but will expand the operational capability of the mission in the field.”
Aurora’s latest UH-1 helicopter utilizes a complete digital flight control system in order to be “autonomy-enabled” with robotically-controlled operations.
The AEH-1, developed under the Office of Naval Research’s (ONR) Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System (AACUS) program, is being used a tested for the company’s Tactical Autonomous Aerial Logistics System.