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FARNBOROUGH, United Kingdom, July 20, 2026 — Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company (NYSE: LMT), will integrate its MATRIX autonomy suite into BETA Technologies’ (NYSE: BETA) ALIA MV250 hybrid-vertical‑take‑off‑and‑landing aircraft, adding the platform to a growing roster of MATRIX-enabled systems that includes the S‑70UAS U‑Hawk, the Sikorsky Nomad VTOL UAS and the Sikorsky OPV Black Hawk.
The companies finalized their plan earlier this month, and within two weeks MATRIX was integrated and flying on BETA’s CX300 conventional takeoff and landing aircraft, a step intended to feed directly into MV250 development. The ALIA family shares a common flight control architecture, and MATRIX’s open design is built to plug into other flight control frameworks. Ongoing flight tests are set to expand the flight envelope and validate reliability of the autonomy suite paired with BETA’s in‑house flight control system.
“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.”
Positioned to address a middleweight logistics gap, the MV250 is designed for rapid, uncrewed resupply in contested environments. It draws on the ALIA family’s commercial pedigree and a hybrid powertrain, and employs a Modular Open Systems Approach to accelerate integration of MATRIX autonomy while enabling multi‑mission utility.
Sikorsky has advanced contested logistics using autonomous systems since 2021, including a 2025 demonstration in which an Army operator used a MATRIX‑equipped Black Hawk to execute multiple cargo delivery methods and personnel recovery. MATRIX has flown on rotary and fixed‑wing aircraft across mission sets, accumulating more than 1,000 flight hours, 500 successful tests and demonstrations, and training over 100 operators. The system has been integrated on more than 20 platforms and forms the core of DARPA’s Aircrew Labor In‑cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program.
