AIRBUS HELICOPTERS’ HTEAMING PUSHES THE BOUNDARIES
Airbus Helicopters is pushing the boundaries with its HTeaming MUM-T solution, which gives helicopter crews full control over drones in flight.
“Imagine a tablet in the cockpit with an incredibly intuitive HMI [human-machine interface],” said Victor Gerin-Roze, head of UAS business at Airbus Helicopters. “It allows the helicopter crew to literally take the reins of a drone, control its mission directly, and stream data in real-time.”
“In a search and rescue scenario, the drone acts as the ultimate scout,” he added. “It rushes ahead, scans the area, and pinpoints the victim. By the time the helicopter arrives on scene, the crew has the exact coordinates.”
HTeaming allows the drone to be
controlled from the cockpit or the rear cabin. This isn’t a time-intensive task. The drone uses an advanced, integrated autopilot that effectively flies it, while the crew selects waypoints or guides the thermal camera. The drone’s live video feeds are broadcast using a shared multicast stream, so that the aircrew and ground teams can view the exact same real-time footage.
To ensure connectivity in deep canyons or remote environments, a drone will switch to a SATCOM network if the primary radio link can’t connect. “Beyond connectivity, we are specifically developing our UAS platforms to be highly resilient in harsh environments,” said Gerin-Roze.
Despite its sophisticated MUM-T features, adding HTeaming to a helicopter doesn’t take much time. “The integration footprint is very low,” Gerin-Roze told RotorPro. “Operators do not need to modify their existing cockpit layouts. The only physical retrofit required is mounting the external communication antennas.” Crucially, this platform-agnostic MUM-T system works with drones from any manufacturer.
After successful operational trials with the Singapore Air Force (H225M), Spanish Navy (H135), and French Armed Forces (NH90), Airbus expects HTeaming to be commercially available by the end of this
year. Looking ahead, “future iterations will, for instance, allow a single helicopter crew to orchestrate a swarm of diverse drones simultaneously,” said Gerin- Roze. “For instance, one drone could handle electronic warfare, another could act as a kinetic effector, and a third could handle long-range reconnaissance.”
LEONARDO PUSHES AI-DRIVEN TEAMING AND DETECTION
Leonardo Helicopters’ approach to MUM-T is all about teamwork, with AI-driven autonomous flight systems playing a key role. “Leonardo considers autonomy to be a mandatory component for enabling future uncrewed operations and teaming between crewed and uncrewed platforms,” said Michael Bucari, the company’s senior marketing manager for the Americas. “Leonardo is developing integrated MUM-T solutions while advancing its 3-tonne-class Proteus demonstrator drone with full autonomous flight capabilities.”
For wide-area SAR operations, Leonardo’s 200-kg.-class AWHERO drone is providing intelligence by scanning the landscape with its onboard suite of sensors.
“Utilizing the AWHERO for surveillance optimizes the use of manned helicopters, and it reduces the operational risks for aircrews in high-threat environments,” Bucari said. Crucially for MUM-T SAR, the AWHERO and its payloads have the potential to be directly controlled by other air platforms and can relay full motion video and data directly to the teamed manned platform.
Leonardo is offering a tiered uncrewed portfolio designed to “buddy up” with crewed aircraft. By fielding the lightweight AWHero alongside the 3-tonne Proteus demonstrator, the company allows rescue teams to scale autonomous support. This tiered approach allows SAR operators to deploy the right-sized drone for specific conditions, maximizing operational flexibility and minimizing fuel consumption during time-sensitive SAR missions.
To make the uncrewed search more effective for the partnered helicopter, Leonardo is deploying AI software upgrades to reduce the crew’s mental workloads. “Leonardo has partnered with the Italian mountain rescue service to test an AI-driven object detection and tracking system called G4SAR,” said Bucari. “G4SAR relies on a 4K camera augmented by AI software, which can be connected to uncrewed air systems (UAS) or integrated into the belly of a manned helicopter.” As the drone or helicopter sweeps the search area, “AI can recognize human casualties on the ground, even if they are only partially visible, which dramatically reduces the time required to locate people in challenging environments like mountains,” he said.
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July/Aug 2026
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