Autonomous Black Hawk helicopter has taken to the skies without a pilot on ...

A fully autonomous Black Hawk helicopter has taken to the skies over the US without a human pilot on board for the first time.

A partnership between Lockheed Martin Sikorsky and the Defence Armed Research Projects Agency (DARPA), it took off from Fort Campbell in Kentucky on February 5. 

Without anyone on board, the UH-60A Black Hawk completed a 30 minute flight above the US army installation, with a second flight held on February 7.

It comes with an optionally piloted cockpit, that has to be switched from pilot, to autonomous mode - allowing an onboard computer brain to control the vehicle.

During the flight the Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) autonomous pilot was presented with a series of simulated obstacles to overcome.

It had to execute a series of pedal turns, maneurvers and straightaways before carrying out a perfect landing back on the Fort Campbell runway - without any human intervention.

The autonomous helicopter could be used to deliver supplies to dangerous war zones, or recover soldiers without risking a pilot. 

Once it had shut itself down and the blades had stopped spinning, a pair of pilots entered the vehicle, switched it back to human mode and took it back to base.

This wasn't the first time the ALIAS system has been tested during a flight, and wasn't the first time it had been used in a Black Hawk, but was the first time they'd trusted the autopilot to fly and land with no humans as a backup.  

One example of use could be for pilots flying into an area where visibility suddenly becomes a problem, flipping the switch to autonomous mode allows the ALIAS system to take over, using sensors rather than sight to navigate. 

Benjamin Williamson, lead test pilot for the Fort Campbell event, said: 'This capability will allow pilots to confidently switch back and forth between autonomy and piloted modes at any point of their mission with the literal flip of a switch.