Airbus Helicopters to launch HTeaming crewed-uncrewed helicopter system by year end

Airbus Helicopters expects to put its HTeaming technology into service before the end of this year, after several years of development and testing. The system lets a helicopter crew direct the work of uncrewed aerial systems.

The first version is a standalone setup: one drone is tasked from a crewed helicopter using a tablet controller, with a safety pilot kept in the loop. It depends on data links fitted to both aircraft and has a range of up to 20nm (37km).

Victor Gerin-Roze, head of UAS at Airbus Helicopters, said only the installation kit must be certified. That allows HTeaming to be used with the company's own rotorcraft and uncrewed products, as well as those built by other manufacturers.

One possible use is giving a crewed military helicopter what the company calls a situational awareness bubble, for instance by scouting a planned landing site before the helicopter arrives. A company roadmap calls for an integrated version from 2028 that could task several uncrewed systems or air-launched effects from a helicopter without a remote pilot.

Further out, Airbus Helicopters wants the system used in multi-domain operations, with greater range made possible through satellite communication. Gerin-Roze said the company intends to start with an initial product and refine it in stages, learning alongside the customer.

At a media demonstration at a drone test site north of Marseille on 8 October, crew on board the company's H130 FlightLab, while on the ground, tasked two drones, the U010 Aliaca and the U030 Flexrotor, to carry out operations. The Flexrotor is a vertical take-off and landing design with an endurance of 12 to 14 hours.