空客最近对其MQ-72C无人机直升机的演示机进行了测试，以供美国陆军使用。MQ-72C目前正在开发中，已有数年时间，用于参加美国海军陆战队的一项竞赛，旨在寻找一种新型无人驾驶货物运输空中物流连接器（ALC）。海军陆战队认为无人驾驶物流“连接器”是未来远征和分布式作战的关键，而类似的陆军需求也可能即将出现，特别是为了支持远程空中突击。
Airbus recently put the demonstrator for its MQ-72C drone helicopter through the paces for the U.S. Army. The MQ-72C has been in development for several years now for a U.S. Marine Corps competition seeking a new uncrewed cargo-carrying Aerial Logistics Connector (ALC). The Marines see uncrewed logistics ‘connectors’ as key to future expeditionary and distributed operations , and a similar Army requirement could be on the horizon, especially to support long-range air assaults .
空客ALC项目高级总监Jaysen Yochim在周一美国陆军协会（AUSA）主年度大会上，与我们的Howard Altman讨论了此次针对陆军的演示。正如您可以在此处了解的那样，空客目前正与L3Harris Technologies、Shield AI和Parry Labs合作，为海军陆战队开发这款无人机直升机。
Jaysen Yochim, Senior Director for the ALC program at Airbus, talked about the demonstration for the Army with our Howard Altman at the Association of the U.S. Army’s (AUSA) main annual convention on Monday. Airbus is currently teamed with L3Harris Technologies, Shield AI, and Parry Labs on development of this drone helicopter for the Marines, as you can learn more about here .
MQ-72C的当前版本基于有人驾驶的UH-72B Lakota，而UH-72B Lakota又是空客H145双引擎轻型直升机的一个变体。美国陆军目前仍在使用有人驾驶的UH-72直升机，但仅限于非战斗角色，包括禁毒和边境巡逻任务，且几乎完全局限于美国境内。
The current iteration of the MQ-72C is based on the crewed UH-72B Lakota, which is in turn a variant of Airbus’ H145 twin-engine light helicopter. The Army operates crewed UH-72s today , but only in non-combat roles, including counter-drug and border patrol missions, and almost exclusively within the borders of the United States.
美国陆军UH-72 Lakota有人驾驶直升机。美国陆军UH-72A Lakotas。美国陆军空客自行资助的MQ-72C针对陆军的演示于上周在阿拉巴马州亨茨维尔附近的亨茨维尔执行机场进行。该服务在亨茨维尔地区有重要存在，该地区主要聚焦于支持航空和导弹发展。截至今年4月，空客及其合作伙伴已经对该设计的初始演示版本进行了四轮自主飞行测试，而该版本尚未达到完全无人驾驶的配置。
US Army crewed UH-72 Lakota helicopters. US Army US Army UH-72A Lakotas. US Army The MQ-72C demonstration for the Army, which Airbus self-funded, took place last week at Huntsville Executive Airport just outside of Huntsville, Alabama. The service has a major presence in the Huntsville area, which is focused heavily on supporting aviation and missile developments. As of April of this year, Airbus and its partners had already conducted four rounds of autonomous flight testing of the initial demonstrator version of this design, which is not in a fully uncrewed configuration.
“我们在亨茨维尔为陆军进行了一次演示，真正的目的是展示我们在海军陆战队资助的项目上迄今为止所能开发的所有能力，”约希姆说。“我们在那里进行了总共五次演示飞行，展示了从飞机在悬停状态下的自主能力到其他各种功能。”
“We did a demonstration for the Army down in Huntsville, really to show all the capabilities that we’ve been able to develop so far on the Marine Corps-funded program,” Yochim said. “We had a total of five demonstration flights that we did down there, showing everything from the autonomous capability of the aircraft in a hover.”
这包括“复杂的悬停模式，既有逐步转弯，也有穿越转弯，类似于你在机场上会看到的情况，只是为了展示它如何能够融入现有航路结构的机场内部，以及机场上存在的其他一切内容，”他继续说道。“我们进行了多次交通模式飞行，以展示一个正常的交通模式，就像一天中的正常情况一样，但也展示了在飞行过程中中途出现禁飞区时的交通模式或飞行情况。”下面的视频展示了MQ-72C演示机之前的飞行测试。
This included “complex hovering patterns, both step turns and fly-through turns, similar to what you’d see on an airfield, to just show how it can be integrated onto an airfield inside of the existing routing structure and everything that exists on an airfield,” he continued. “We did multiple traffic patterns to demonstrate just a normal traffic pattern, like a normal day would be, but also traffic patterns or a flight with a no-fly zone popping up in the middle of the flight.”The video below shows previous flight testing of the MQ-72C demonstrator.
在那种情况下，MQ-72C必须“自主做出决策”，关于它“将如何绕过禁飞区”在禁飞区突然出现后的行进路线，他补充道。人工操作员确实提供了初始飞行计划。在自主飞行演示过程中，机上也有一名飞行员，但仅作为额外的安全措施，而且“他们从未需要接管飞机的控制权，”根据约希姆的说法。
In that latter instance, the MQ-72C had to “autonomously make decisions” about how it was “going to route itself around the no-fly zones” once they popped up, he added. The human operator did provide the initial flight plan. There was also a pilot on board during the autonomous flight demonstrations, but only as an added safety margin, and they “never had to take control of the aircraft once,” according to Yochim.
尽管该演示机现在已经具备了供飞行员使用的设施，但MQ-72C的最终目标是实现完全无人操作。当前版本的设计包括两个朝前和朝后的激光雷达传感器，以及机头端的一个电光相机，以帮助导航，并在无人操作模式下提供情境感知。
Though the demonstrator now has provisions for a pilot, the intention is for the MQ-72C to eventually operate in a completely uncrewed mode. The current version of the design has two LIDAR sensors, facing front and back, as well as an electro-optical camera at the nose end, to help with navigation and otherwise provide situational awareness while operating in the uncrewed mode.
这些传感器将“影像输入到配备HiveMind的飞行计算机中，通过其感知系统进行解读以实时做出决策，”约希姆解释道。HiveMind是来自Shield AI的一款自主软件套件，目前正在越来越多的其他无人平台上使用，正如你所能看到的那样。
Those sensors feed “imagery into the flight computer with HiveMind that’s interpreting that through its perception systems to make decisions on the go,” Yochim explained. HiveMind is an autonomy software package from Shield AI, which is in use on a growing number of other uncrewed platforms, as you can
Yochim还谈到了已经完成的工作，以开始为在完全无人模式下控制MQ-72C奠定基础。佩里实验室一直在领导地面控制站的工作。
Yochim also talked about work that has already been done to start laying the groundwork for controlling the MQ-72C in the fully uncrewed mode. Parry Labs has been leading ground control station work.
“今年夏天，飞机不再是机内有飞行员，或者说抱歉，机内有自主操作员，而是使用游戏电脑告诉飞机该做什么，现在飞机正在接收来自地面控制站的命令，”他告诉我们。“这就是人在回路中，通过星链向飞机发送命令，使其具备超视距能力。我们已经进行了从最远70英里外进行自主指令的飞行。所有这些都发生在过去一年里。我们还实现了飞机既可以通过像这样的地面控制站进行指令，也可以通过三星平板进行指令。”
“Over the summer is really where now the aircraft, rather than having a pilot inside the aircraft, or sorry, an autonomous operator inside the aircraft, using a gaming computer to tell the aircraft what to do, now the aircraft is receiving commands from a ground control station,” he told us. “That is that human in the loop, sending commands to the aircraft over Starlink, so that it has beyond line-of-sight. We’ve had flights that have been autonomously commanded from up to 70 miles away. All of that is stuff that’s happened in the last year. We also have where the aircraft can be commanded from both a ground control station like this and also with the Samsung tablet.”
SpaceX的星链基于太空的网络及其更安全、面向政府的姊妹产品星盾，在美国军队中的通信和其他用途方面正日益广泛使用。目前，星链在全球这些服务的商业市场中也占据主导地位。星链和星盾提供高度持久且可靠的连接，非常适合无人机的指挥和控制操作。
SpaceX’s Starlink space-based network and its more secure, government-focused cousin, Starshield, are in increasingly widespread use across the U.S. military for communications and other purposes . At present, Starlink also dominates the commercial market for these services globally. Starlink and Starshield offer highly persistent and robust connectivity that is ideal for uncrewed aircraft command and control operations.
当前的MQ-72C演示机还缺少最终配置中预期具备的一些特征。值得注意的是，机头部的一组蛤蜊式舱门计划尚未实现。UH-72设计已经在机身尾部具备蛤蜊式舱门，如下图所示。最终目标是让无人版本具备一个可通行的主舱，以便快速装卸货物，并带来主要优势。
The current MQ-72C demonstrator also lacks certain features that are expected to be found on the final configuration. Plans for a set of clamshell doors at the nose notably still have yet to be realized. The UH-72 design already features clamshell doors at the rear of the fuselage, as seen below. The end goal is for the uncrewed version to have an open pass-through main cabin, offering major advantages for loading and unloading cargo, and doing so rapidly.
美国陆军国民警卫队 一张在医疗撤离配置下的UH-72A后部内部视角。美国陆军国民警卫队鼻门布局已经“完成设计。它已经进行了3D渲染。它在那一端经历了一些测试，但尚未进行飞行测试，”空客的约希姆告诉我们。“飞行测试、风洞测试之类的事情需要时间，而让飞机准备就绪并不是当前的优先事项。”
US Army National Guard A look in through the rear of a UH-72A in a medical evacuation configuration. US Army National Guard The nose door arrangement has been “designed. It’s been 3D rendered. It’s gone through some testing on that end, but not flight testing,” Airbus’ Yochim told us. “The flight testing, wind tunnel testing, things like that, take time, and it’s just not been the priority to get there with getting the aircraft ready.”
约希姆表示，空客目前正将注意力放在2029-2030年时间框架上，以实现鼻门的集成。这部分原因与海军陆战队的ALC计划有关，由于资金延迟，该计划的进度被推迟。在这方面，海军陆战队希望明年在具有作战相关性的环境中演示这一能力。由空客领导的团队也不是该计划下唯一的承包商，近地自主公司和霍尼韦尔也在基于莱昂纳多AW139直升机的设计上进行工作。预计海军陆战队最终将选择一种单一的ALC设计进行实际采购。
Yochim said that Airbus is now looking toward the 2029-2030 timeframe for integrating the nose doors. This is tied, in part, to the Marine Corps’ ALC program, where delayed funding has shifted the schedule to the right. On that front, the Marine Corps is aiming for demonstration of this capability in an operationally relevant context next year. The Airbus-led team is also not the only one under contract for that program, with Near Earth Autonomy and Honeywell are also working on a design based on the Leonardo AW139 helicopter. The expectation is that the Marines will eventually pick a single ALC design to actually acquire.
与此同时，空客显然正在关注其他机会，包括与美国陆军的合作。该公司在欧洲的主要部门目前也在推广一种基于当前一代H145设计的功能完全相同的U145无人直升机。在@ILA_Berlin，我们介绍空客U145：一种基于H145的无人驾驶、完全自主的变体。该机型专为货运优化，无驾驶舱，配备集成式鼻门和完全自主功能，其首飞计划于2026年底进行。
In the meantime, Airbus is clearly eyeing other opportunities, including with the U.S. Army. The company’s main arm in Europe is also now pitching a functionally identical U145 drone helicopter based on the current generation H145 design. At @ILA_Berlin , we introduce the Airbus U145: an uncrewed, fully autonomous variant of the H145. Optimised for cargo with no cockpit, an integrated nose door, and full autonomy, its first flight is set for late 2026. pic.twitter.com/2EnMXzog6c
pic.twitter.com/2EnMXzog6c— 空客直升机（@AirbusHeli）2026年6月8日空客进行了“演示，只是为了向陆军展示我们与海军陆战队共同开发的能力，”约希姆告诉我们。“到目前为止，海军陆战队一直在为该项目提供资金，因此我们向陆军传达的信息是：在我们目前获得的资金支持下，你们的姐妹单位[注：原文为service，此处应为‘部门’或‘分支’，但保持直译以忠实原文]已经能够让我们达到这个程度。这已经是一个存在的产品。这已经是一个能够正常工作的产品。”
— Airbus Helicopters (@AirbusHeli) June 8, 2026 Airbus did the “demonstration to just show the Army the capabilities that we’ve been developing with the Marine Corps,” Yochim told us. “So the Marine Corps has been funding the program up to now, and so the message we are giving the Army is this is how far your sister unit [sic; service] has been able to get us with the funding that we’ve had. It’s already product that’s out there. It’s already product that’s working.”
正如前文所述，海军陆战队将 ALC 视为更大一类无人后勤“连接器”家族的一部分，这些连接器将在空中和水面上运行，对支援分散在遥远前线地区的部队所进行的远征和分散式作战至关重要。海军陆战队认为，在与中国在太平洋可能爆发的更大规模高强度冲突背景下，这尤其关乎岛屿跳跃式作战场景，因为传统后勤链条将成为首要打击目标。与伊朗的冲突进一步凸显了这些威胁可能造成的破坏性影响。
As mentioned, the Marines see ALC as part of a larger family of uncrewed logistics ‘connectors,’ in the air and on the surface, which will be critical to supporting expeditionary and distributed operations involving units spread across far-flung forward locations. The service sees this as particularly central to an island-hopping campaign scenario in the context of a larger potential high-end fight with China in the Pacific, where traditional logistics chains will be top targets. The conflict with Iran has only underscored how disruptive those threats can be.
陆军也面临许多类似的未来作战情景，特别是在支援未来空中机动作战方面。该军种已经预计，随着 MV-75A 倾转旋翼机的引入，未来的空中突击行动将发生在更远的距离上。这些部队抵达目标后将需要得到支援，而这些目标可能处于激烈争夺之中。一对 MV-75A 倾转旋翼机的渲染图。贝尔公司“我们在过去几年里多次直接从坎贝尔堡发动空中突击，前往联合准备训练中心，大约有 500 英里，多少有点出入。[海军陆战队的] MV-22 ‘鱼鹰’ 能够非常快速地一次完成这一距离，”陆军少将大卫·加德纳（David Gardner），第 101 空降师师长，在 AUSA 期间对我们的姊妹网站《任务与目的》（Task & Purpose）表示。
The Army is facing many of the same kinds of future operational scenarios, especially when it comes to supporting future airmobile operations. The service is already expecting air assaults to take place over far greater distances in the future thanks to the introduction of the MV-75A tiltrotor . Those units will need to be supported once they arrive at their objectives, which could be heavily contested. A rendering of a pair of MV-75A tiltrotors. Bell “We did several [air assaults] over the last few years directly from Fort Campbell to the Joint Readiness Training Center, which is 500 miles, give or take. The [Marine Corps’ MV-22] Osprey can do that very fast and in one leap,” Army Maj. Gen. David Gardner, head of the 101st Airborne Division, told our sister site Task & Purpose at AUSA .
“我们目前的直升机则需要在途中进行加油和重新武装的停靠，而且距离也不够。但现在这帮助我们作为一个师思考如何指挥和控制一个移动的目标——换句话说，将战场扩大一倍、两倍、三倍甚至四倍的距离，并且速度提升一倍。”
“Our current helicopters, you’ve got to make some fuel and re-arming stops along the way, and the distance isn’t there. But now that helped us think through as a division how we were going to command and control something that moved, expanded our battlefield, so to speak, twice as far, three times, four times as far, and twice as fast.”
第 101 空降师是陆军的精锐空中突击编制，并将成为首批实装 MV-75A 倾转旋翼机进行作战的部队。
The 101st is the Army’s premier air assault formation and is set to be the first to fly MV-75As operationally.
我们可以把一些东西装进直升机里，也可以用吊装方式把一些东西挂在直升机下面。我们不会把以每小时约250节速度移动、飞行500英里的东西挂起来运输。我们也不会把悍马车挂在那下面，”加德纳还对《任务与目的》杂志说。“我们了解到，我们需要如何把装备送到战场，如何在这些距离内把后勤保障送到战场，以及我们可能需要依赖自主物流配送系统。”
“We can put some things inside the helicopter, and we can put some things under a helicopter with a sling load . We’re not going to sling load something moving 250-ish knots for 500 miles. We’re not going to hang Humvees under that,” Gardner also told Task & Purpose . “We learned some things about how we need to get our equipment to the battlefield, how we need to get our sustainment to the battlefield at those distances, how we might need to rely on autonomous logistics delivery systems.”
一架美国陆军CH-47奇努克直升机被看到正在吊装一辆悍马车和一门M119 105毫米牵引榴弹炮。美国陆军应强调的是，半自主空中物流支援市场正在升温，MQ-72C并不是满足此类需求的唯一选择。如前所述，在海军陆战队ALC项目的竞争中，还有一个竞争者——来自近地自主公司和霍尼韦尔基于AW139的方案。
A US Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter seen carrying a Humvee and an M119 105mm towed howitzer slung underneath. US Army It should be stressed that the market for semi-autonomous aerial logistics support is heating up, and that the MQ-72C is not the only option to meet such a requirement. As noted, there is another competitor in the running just for the Marines’ ALC effort, the AW139-based offering from Near Earth Autonomy and Honeywell.
去年，现在是洛克希德·马丁子公司的西科斯基透露，他们正在研发一款全无人驾驶版的黑鹰直升机，该机还配备了蛤蜊式机头。西科斯基还一直在与罗宾逊无人机公司合作，开发一种无人驾驶版的较小型R66直升机，该机同样在机身前部配备了蛤蜊式舱门。贝尔公司也与近地自主公司合作，正在开发其505型喷射游骑兵X直升机的无人驾驶货运版本。
Last year, Sikorsky, now a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, revealed that it was working on a fully uncrewed version of the Black Hawk helicopter that also features a clamshell nose . Sikorsky has also been working with Robinson Unmanned on a pilotless version of the smaller R66 helicopter that again features clamshell doors at the front of the fuselage. Bell, together with Near Earth Autonomy, is developing an uncrewed cargo-carrying version of its Model 505 Jet Ranger X, as well.
R66和喷射游骑兵X的无人机版本主要面向海军陆战队另一个名为“中程空中补给车-远征后勤”（MARV-EL）的“连接器”项目。贝尔505无人机版本的渲染图。近地自主公司如前所述，陆军确实已经在使用有人驾驶的UH-72直升机，但它也在使用黑鹰直升机。该军种还在扩大使用承包商操作的R66直升机进行飞行员训练。
The drone versions of the R66 and Jet Ranger X are aimed primarily at another Marine Corps ‘connector’ program called the Medium Aerial Resupply Vehicle-Expeditionary Logistics (MARV-EL). A rendering of the uncrewed Bell 505. Near Earth Autonomy As mentioned, the Army does already operate crewed UH-72s, but it also flies Black Hawks. The service is also expanding its use of contractor-operated R66s for pilot training .
陆军目前似乎尚未正式确立任何关于货运无人机直升机的需求。与此同时，加德纳少将的言论显然表明，这一需求可能正在形成。
The Army does not appear to have formalized any requirement for a cargo-carrying drone helicopter yet. At the same time, the comments from Maj. Gen. Gardner certainly suggest one may be emerging now.
陆军内部已经表现出足够的兴趣，以至于上周接受了空客提供的MQ-72C演示。
There was at least enough interest within the Army already to accept Airbus’ offer of a demonstration of its MQ-72C last week.