At this year's ILA Berlin Air Show, Airbus Helicopters officially released its latest fully autonomous flight product, the U145 twin-engine helicopter. This new model is based on the company's current H145 platform. The original cockpit area is modified into a split cargo door and cargo space to increase the payload capacity.
In recent years, the importance of fully autonomous flight has continued to rise in the global aviation industry, and more and more projects have begun to try to eliminate pilots on board, or at least make pilots optional. One of the key reasons is that once the cockpit is eliminated, it not only simplifies the aircraft structural design, but also frees up valuable cargo space and reduces weight, thereby improving operational efficiency.
Airbus is clearly interested in going in this direction with the U145 project. The U145 introduces a high degree of autonomy based on the H145 light twin-engine helicopter. It completely cancels the traditional cockpit, replaces the front fuselage area with special sensor components and a structural modification plan, and positions the entire aircraft as a 3.8-ton cargo platform. Specific modifications include removing the nose structure at the front of the fuselage and replacing it with a split cargo door, a foldable loading platform and a strengthened cargo floor to adapt to the loading, unloading and transportation needs of different types of cargo.
In addition to marking Airbus's move from small tactical drones to 3.8-ton platforms, the U145 project also reflects the idea of reducing research and development risks and shortening the production cycle by reusing mature models. The H145 platform has accumulated 9.5 million flight hours, providing a reliable airframe foundation for the U145. On top of this, U145 is designed as a multi-mission unmanned system platform. In addition to cargo missions, it can also perform armed reconnaissance, firefighting, surveillance and alerting according to mission requirements, and can even be used as a UAV "mother aircraft" platform.
Matthieu Louvot, CEO of Airbus Helicopters, said: "With the U145, we are providing customers with an unmanned, autonomous version of the H145 helicopter, combining the airframe, power and payload capabilities of this mature model with the autonomous capabilities of an unmanned aerial system (UAS)." He emphasized that in the process of developing the U145 and its multi-mission unmanned capabilities, Airbus will collaborate with leading autonomous mission system partners to further expand the European unmanned system ecosystem.
According to Airbus's plan, the first test flight of the U145 will take place later this year, and a safety pilot will still be on board for verification and risk control.