In May, Honeywell and Near Earth Autonomy flew a Leonardo AW139 without a pilot for the first time in Arizona. This was part of the USMC’s logistics program.
In May 2025, Honeywell and Near Earth Autonomy successfully flew a Leonardo AW139 helicopter autonomously for the first time in Phoenix, Arizona. The flight's success was announced at the Paris Air Show on June 17th, which represents a big step forward for the US Marine Corps’ Aerial Logistics Connector (ALC) program.
The test flight revealed that the AW139’s autopilot modes may be controlled directly by Near Earth Autonomy’s onboard software without the need for a pilot or remote operation. The plane proved that it could navigate and make judgements autonomously, which meant that it might be used for supply missions in risky places without a crew.
(LiDAR-based sensor module and autonomous flight control system component)
The ALC project, which is administered by the Naval Aviation Systems Consortium, wants to make the supply chain reliable and safer for pilots.
Future trials will expand the system’s capabilities, including automated obstacle avoidance and integration into military logistics workflows.
Under DARPA’s ALIAS program, similar efforts to give Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters more freedom have also been made. But there are several important differences:
Platform integration: The UH-60 tests usually employ military-standard airframes that have been modified, whereas the AW139 program is being tested on a civil-certified, dual-use platform.
Autonomy stack: Sikorsky’s system focusses on pilot augmentation and emergency autonomy, while Honeywell and Near Earth Autonomy’s AW139 flight had no pilots on board, which was a more advanced demonstration of autonomy.
The UH-60 is mostly tested for combat resupply and CASEVAC, whereas the AW139 is mostly evaluated for scalable logistics and humanitarian deployment situations.
In short, both platforms are big steps forward in rotorcraft autonomy, but the AW139’s test shows how full autonomy can be added to a conventional rotorcraft from scratch, with uses that go beyond only military usage.
Author: Özgür Ekşi
