Sikorsky to Integrate MATRIX™ Autonomy into BETA Technologies’ MV250

FARNBOROUGH, United Kingdom. Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, announced on July 20, 2026 that it will integrate its proven MATRIX™ autonomy suite into BETA Technologies’ ALIA MV250 hybrid-vertical-take-off-and-landing (hVTOL) aircraft. The BETA MV250 is expected to join the rapidly expanding family of MATRIX autonomy-capable platforms, alongside Sikorsky S-70UAS™ U-Hawk™, the Sikorsky Nomad™ VTOL UAS and the Sikorsky OPV Black Hawk, underscoring Sikorsky’s commitment to delivering safe, reliable, mission-critical autonomy for customers worldwide.

Sikorsky and BETA formally agreed to this initiative earlier this month and within two weeks MATRIX autonomy was successfully integrated and flying BETA’s CX300 conventional takeoff and landing aircraft leading directly into MV250 development. The ALIA family of aircraft share a common flight control architecture and MATRIX autonomy is an open-architecture system designed for easy integration with other flight control frameworks.

Ongoing flight testing will expand the flight envelope and prove the reliability of the MATRIX autonomy suite paired with BETA’s in-house built flight control system.

MATRIX: Industry Standard Autonomy

MATRIX autonomy enables advanced autonomous modes for rotary and fixed-wing aircraft in challenging civil or military environments.

“Integrating the MATRIX autonomy stack into the MV250 is another step forward in providing a range of solutions for contested logistics missions, which we have demonstrated in autonomous operations since 2021,” said Rich Benton, Vice President and General Manager of Sikorsky. “All platforms equipped with MATRIX autonomy can be commanded using the same interface, giving operators the ability seamlessly manage various systems with just a few taps. MATRIX technology represents an opportunity to get safe, reliable, certifiable autonomy into a range of platforms as quickly as possible.”

“Sikorsky has spent years proving that autonomy is safe, reliable, and operationally useful,” said Kyle Clark, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of BETA Technologies. “The MV250 is low cost, high speed and simple and designed for autonomous integration. Bringing MATRIX autonomy onto the MV250 combines those investments into a platform that can do high-risk missions without putting personnel at risk. Pairing Sikorsky’s proven autonomy with our aircraft gives defense customers a low-cost, fast, credible path to uncrewed logistics in contested environments.”

Strategic Impact

The MV250 fills the middleweight logistics gap for customers, handling rapid, uncrewed resupply in contested environments. The MV250 leverages the commercial investment and pedigree of the ALIA family of aircraft combined with a hybrid powertrain. The MV250 leverages a Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) to systems architecture which enhanced the speed to MATRIX autonomy integration while offering an inherently multi-mission, utility platform.

Sikorsky has been building on its contested logistics expertise utilizing autonomous systems since 2021. In 2025, the company successfully demonstrated that an Army operator using a MATRIX autonomy-equipped Black Hawk can execute several types of cargo delivery (internal carry, sling load, parachute air drop) and personnel recovery.

From helicopters and drones to fighters and cargo aircraft, MATRIX autonomy has flown them all. The system has become the industry standard for autonomous flight, accumulating more than 1,000 flight hours, 500 successful tests and demonstrations and training 100+ operators across the Department of War and firefighting communities. To date, MATRIX autonomy has been integrated on 20+ different platforms, proving its flexibility and robustness in the most demanding environments.

The MATRIX autonomy system forms the core of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) ALIAS (Aircrew Labor In-cockpit Automation System) program.

For more information, visit https://www.lockheedmartin.com/matrix and https://beta.team/defense.

MATRIX™ technology is a registered trademark of Lockheed Martin Corporation.