DARPA Transitions Autonomous Rotorcraft Technology to the Army
Photo Courtesy of DARPA and Sikorsky
In March, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) transitioned its newly developed autonomous rotorcraft flight system technology to the Army’s Project Manager for Utility Helicopters to undergo advanced operational testing by the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM). The system is part of an experimental, fly-by-wire, unmanned H-60Mx Black Hawk equipped with the Sikorsky-developed MATRIX autonomy suite, which was funded by DARPA as part of its Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation (ALIAS) program. The transition is considered to be the capstone achievement of the program, which was established to create a highly automated system that could be integrated into existing aircraft to enhance mission flexibility and safety.
The next phase of development for the system will focus on integrating advanced mission-specific sensors and investigating and testing the operational flexibility of autonomous flight.
For more information, visit https://www.darpa.mil/news/2026/uh-60mx-black-hawk-army.
Navy IRCM Specialists Named MSS Fellows
Dr. Jason Auxier, Mr. Brent Waggoner, and Dr. Hugo Romero
In April, at the 2026 MSS EO/IRCM Symposium in Springfield, VA, U.S. Navy electro-optical (EO)/infrared countermeasure (IRCM) specialists Dr. Jason Auxier, Mr. Brent Waggoner, and Dr. Hugo Romero were recognized for induction in the 2024 and 2025 classes of Military Sensing Symposia (MSS) Fellows. MSS Fellows are individuals who have demonstrated significant, sustained contributions to one or more areas of military sensing technology. Candidates are nominated by their peers, recommended by a committee of existing MSS fellows, and confirmed by the MSS Executive Committee.
Dr. Auxier has been part of the U.S. military EO/IRCM community for more than 20 years, making significant contributions in the transition of optical augmentation hardware and creating disrupting EOCM/IRCM technologies for ship, tank, and personnel defense. His areas of expertise include optically guided missiles, laser-based (directed) EOCM/IRCM systems, decoys, laser and missile warning/detection systems, optical augmentation, ultra-short pulsed lasers, laser-material interactions, optical sensors, nonmechanical beam steering, laser propagation, laser filamentation, multi-spectral electronic warfare, quantum optics, and nonlinear optics. He also has extensive expertise in multiple aspects of the electronic warfare (EW) kill-chain, from ship signature and missile detection through EOCM/IRCM execution and EW effectiveness assessment.
Mr. Waggoner, of the NSWC Crane Navy Integrated Countermeasures Effectiveness Laboratory, has been involved in the protection of U.S. combat aircraft for more than 30 years. His IRCM work is implemented on all currently fielded Navy/Marine Corps aviation platforms, as well as many other Army, Navy, Air Force, and Foreign Military Sales aircraft. He is considered one of the top experts on threat seeker exploitation, digital and hardware-in-the-loop threat missile engagement simulations and modeling, and expendable and laser CM devices and techniques. In addition, he’s strongly promoted collaboration between DoD labs and industry and between U.S. allies and NATO, and he has served for more than two decades in the leadership of the Joint Aircraft Survivability Program.
Finally, Dr. Romero, has worked in missile warning technology for more than 33 years, significantly impacting the development of the Distributed Aperture Infrared Countermeasures (DAIRCM) system, as well as the AN/AAR-47 missile warning set. He’s developed enhanced detection and discrimination algorithms for the DAIRCM system currently deployed in multiple DoD platform types. He’s also developed the DAIRCM Digital System Model, implementing a capability to process imagery and generate system detection and discrimination data, as well as the Ballistic Signature model to characterize the IR signatures of ballistic tracer and nontracer rounds and rocket plumes. In addition, he’s been instrumental in expanding the capabilities of two-color IR missile warning systems, incorporating missile identification, artificial intelligence, and the detection of radar-guided threats by exploiting IR plume signatures.
Congratulations, Jason, Brent, and Hugo!
Stealth Pioneer Denys Overholser Passes Away
Photo Courtesy of Lockheed Martin
In April, aircraft survivability engineer and stealth technology pioneer Denys Overholser passed away at the age of 86. Though much of Mr. Overholser’s groundbreaking work remains classified, he is credited with the major analytical and design ideas behind the F-117 Night Hawk, the world’s first stealth attack aircraft, as well as numerous other stealth aircraft that followed it.
Before the 1970s, U.S. combat aviation developers and military leaders focused primarily on reducing the radar cross section (RCS) of aircraft through radar-absorbing materials and internal structures. However, after reading a highly complex (and largely forgotten) 1962 paper by a Russian mathematician on radar wave scattering—or diffraction—Overholser began conducting novel research that demonstrated that the strategic shaping and design of an object could dramatically attenuate the radar return from it. This ground-breaking development into radar reflectivity would forever change the world of combat aircraft survivability.
In his work, Mr. Overholser was also an early user of computers for aircraft analytics and design. He wrote a program called Echo 1 that calculated the RCS for a portion of an aircraft covered by a series of flat surfaces—or facets—which could then be combined with other calculations to derive an overall RCS for the design. From there, he developed the so-called “Hopeless Diamond,” a faceted aircraft design concept that reportedly could provide 1,000 times less radar reflectivity than Lockheed’s D-21 reconnaissance drone. In Overholser’s words, a full-size aircraft using this design could essentially have the radar reflectivity of “an eagle’s eyeball.”
Ultimately, this work led to the highly secretive development and fielding of the legendary F-117, which (as discussed in the summer 2024 issue of the Aircraft Survivability journal) would achieve unparalleled success in the Gulf War and later conflicts. And every stealth aircraft that has followed the F-117 would build upon the strong technological foundations that Mr. Overholser helped lay.
For his many innovative efforts in the field, he was presented with the National Defense Industrial Association’s first-ever award for Combat Survivability, as well as numerous recognitions from the Secretaries of the Air Force and Defense.
For more information on Mr. Overholser’s work and accomplishments, visit https://www.airandspaceforces.com/denys-overholser-stealth-pioneer-whose-work-led-to-the-f-117-dies-at-86/.
MQ-25A Stingray Completes First Test Flight
Photo Courtesy of the U.S. Navy and Boeing
In April, the U.S. Navy, along with Boeing Air Vehicle Pilots, successfully conducted the first flight of an MQ-25QA Stingray unmanned aerial system (UAS) near Boeing’s MidAmerica Airport facility in Mascoutah, IL. The MQ-25 is the Navy’s first operational carrier-based unmanned aircraft, designed primarily to serve as an aerial refueling tanker. It is expected to significantly extend the combat range and strike capability of the Carrier Air Wing, enable manned fighters to fly further and faster, and reduce risk to combat aviators.
During the flight test, the aircraft executed a series of maneuvers to validate its basic flight controls, engine performance, and handling characteristics. Future testing this year is expected to further test and validate the MQ-25’s ground control station integration, expand its flight envelope, and verify additional performance parameters.
For more information, visit https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/display-news/Article/4471026/mq-25a-stingray-achieves-successful-first-flight-advancing-future-of-naval-avia/.
ATIRCM: Another Survivability Success Story
Recently, the Army fully divested its Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasure (ATIRCM) system, transitioning the system’s duties to the lighter and more scalable Common Infrared Countermeasure (CIRCM) system. However, the crucial (and unlikely) role that ATIRCM played in helping to protect the CH-47F Chinook and its crews for more than 16 years deserves a word of recognition.
The ATIRCM was born out of an urgent need during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan to better protect U.S. rotorcraft against the ever-growing threat of infrared-guided missiles, particularly man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS). While earlier countermeasures often relied on flares and evasive maneuvers to decoy incoming missiles, advancements in missile seekers demanded more precise, responsive defenses. Thus, ATIRCM was designated a Quick Reaction Capability in 2008 to address the growing number and sophistication of surface-to-air missile encounters targeting Army aircraft—particularly CH-47’s—in combat environments.
Fielded in a record time of just 14 months, ATIRCM effectively confused incoming missiles by jamming the seeker head with laser-based energy. And though the system was originally envisioned to be just a temporary solution to fill a capability gap, its reliability and success extended its service life well beyond expectations and caused it to become mission-essential equipment for Chinooks operating in multiple theaters of operation.
Ultimately, the ATIRCM’s comparatively heavy weight, which limited its deployment to just CH-47’s, would lead to its replacement by CIRCM, a system that can deliver similar capabilities at significant weight savings and scalability, thus enabling it to be used on other Army rotorcraft as well.
For more information, visit https://www.dvidshub.net/news/564300/army-replaces-important-aircraft-survivability-countermeasure.
Point of Clarification
On page 26 of the summer 2026 issue of Aircraft Survivability (in the article “Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: The SR-71’s Survivability Through Speed”), it was reported that “of the more than 4,000 enemy SAMs that were reportedly fired at the SR-71 during its service life, not a single one ever found its mark. The aircraft retired without ever being, hit, damaged, or lost due to enemy action.” While this statement is true, it should be noted that one member of the Blackbird “family”—the SR-71’s closely related single-seat predecessor, the A-12 Archangel/Oxcart—was once struck by an SA-2 missile fragment over North Vietnam.
In October 1967, A-12 pilot Dennis Sullivan was conducting a high-altitude reconnaissance mission over Hanoi when his aircraft was targeted by multiple SA-2 proximity-fused missiles, which all exploded behind him without incident. After Sullivan landed, however, a fingernail-sized fragment from one of the detonated missiles’ nose cones was discovered embedded under one of the aircraft’s wings, close to the fuel tank. The fragment was later presented to Sullivan as a memento of the incident and perhaps the closest a Blackbird-family spy plane ever came to being shot down [https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/forget-sr-71-spy-plane-meet-cias-12-was-it-even-better-83081]. Thanks to ASJ readers Brent Waggoner and Dennis McKinney for the clarification.
