SNC and Skyryse Team Up to Bring SkyOS Flight Automation to Existing Aircraft Fleets
Why It MattersRetrofitting automation onto in-service airframes, rather than waiting for new-build programs, would shorten the path to modernized defense fleets and put certification capacity at the center of that shift.
SNC and Skyryse have launched a collaboration to bring advanced flight automation and autonomous capabilities to existing aircraft fleets, with defense platforms as the priority. The initiative pairs Skyryse's SkyOS flight-control hardware and software with SNC's aircraft modification and integration capabilities. The companies plan to integrate the operating system across a range of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, with additional platform types under evaluation.
SkyOS was previously integrated into a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and flown within 91 days, which company officials cited as a demonstration of how quickly modernized flight software can be added to operational aircraft. Mark Groden, founder and CEO of Skyryse, said SkyOS was built to make aircraft safer, more capable and easier to operate, and that this is not limited to new aircraft programs. He said the fastest way to modernize a fleet is to upgrade the aircraft already in it, and that the Black Hawk work showed SkyOS can do so in months, not years.
The partnership covers engineering integration, retrofit installation and certification across military platforms. Through its subsidiary 3S Engineering and Certification, SNC holds an FAA Organization Designation Authorization (ODA), which gives the organization authority to certify SkyOS integrations. Groden said SNC's certification and integration expertise gives Skyryse a path to bring a new level of automation and capability to existing fleets at scale.
