Photo: Airbus
The term MUSHER may sound very odd and not ring that many bells. It doesn't necessarily stand as an acronym for anything, but it masks an effort that may forever change the way helicopters, crewed and autonomous, work together in the same airspace.
MUSHER is a European-wide effort to create a unified manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) system for rotorcraft. Word of it first surfaced back in 2020, but only now, four years later, did we get a serious update on this ambitious project.
That's because it was only recently that one of the participants in the MUSHER project, European aerospace agency Airbus, announced it has conducted a full scale demo on a MUM-T approach. The company was not alone in this, as it was backed by helicopter maker Leonardo, defense contractor Thales, and several other companies.
For the test at hand Airbus used its H130 FlightLab crewed helicopter and the VSR700 helicopter drone. The two had to fly missions together, in a variety of scenarios.
The FlightLab was unveiled back in 2021 as a derivation of the H130, modified to be able to carry a series of in-flight tests. The VSR700, on the other hand, is a drone born from the Guimbal-made Cabri G2 two-seater helicopter that has been out testing since 2019.
The two helicopters were sent into the air over an unnamed test range in either France or Italy over the course of ten days at the beginning of October. As said, several mission profiles were studied, including one that had the drone and crewed helicopter fly an anti-piracy mission.
More to the point, the VSR700 was sent out to conduct a surveillance flight. Once it detected suspicious activity on a boat, it called in the H130, which arrived on scene and its pilots were allowed to take control of the drone.
As per Airbus, the test showed that teaming between crewed helicopters and unpiloted ones is not only possible, but also something that works quite well. The flights showed the drones can directly send data to both piloted helicopters and ground stations, but also that they can be controlled and monitored from other flying platforms.
The real gain in all this, however, is the proof that these machines can be made to work together even if they are made by different companies in different countries – that's because Leonardo flew its own helicopter-drone pair during this particular test, comprising unnamed flying machines.
It's unclear when something tangible will come out of MUSHER – the initial duration of the project was 36 months, but it seems we've moved past that. When ready, though, it should have taught the Europeans lessons that could be applied in both military and civilian applications, or a combination of the two.
That's because it was only recently that one of the participants in the MUSHER project, European aerospace agency Airbus, announced it has conducted a full scale demo on a MUM-T approach. The company was not alone in this, as it was backed by helicopter maker Leonardo, defense contractor Thales, and several other companies.
For the test at hand Airbus used its H130 FlightLab crewed helicopter and the VSR700 helicopter drone. The two had to fly missions together, in a variety of scenarios.
The FlightLab was unveiled back in 2021 as a derivation of the H130, modified to be able to carry a series of in-flight tests. The VSR700, on the other hand, is a drone born from the Guimbal-made Cabri G2 two-seater helicopter that has been out testing since 2019.
The two helicopters were sent into the air over an unnamed test range in either France or Italy over the course of ten days at the beginning of October. As said, several mission profiles were studied, including one that had the drone and crewed helicopter fly an anti-piracy mission.
More to the point, the VSR700 was sent out to conduct a surveillance flight. Once it detected suspicious activity on a boat, it called in the H130, which arrived on scene and its pilots were allowed to take control of the drone.
As per Airbus, the test showed that teaming between crewed helicopters and unpiloted ones is not only possible, but also something that works quite well. The flights showed the drones can directly send data to both piloted helicopters and ground stations, but also that they can be controlled and monitored from other flying platforms.
The real gain in all this, however, is the proof that these machines can be made to work together even if they are made by different companies in different countries – that's because Leonardo flew its own helicopter-drone pair during this particular test, comprising unnamed flying machines.
It's unclear when something tangible will come out of MUSHER – the initial duration of the project was 36 months, but it seems we've moved past that. When ready, though, it should have taught the Europeans lessons that could be applied in both military and civilian applications, or a combination of the two.
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