Robinson Unmanned Helius Photo: Robinson Unmanned
GROWING TEAMWORK
There was a time when the teaming of helicopters and drones on shared missions seemed to be the stuff of science fiction. That’s no longer true. “Helicopter-drone teaming is already happening and becoming standard in bigger municipalities that have the money for both,” said Bucari. “It’s still evolving. Right now, it’s best described as coordinated cooperation, not fully unified operations.”
This state of coordinated cooperation is due to the current limitations of drones, which do not have the range or speed to work with helicopters as equal partners. “This is why, from a Leonardo Helicopters perspective, the larger metropolitan departments that have the funding for both helicopters and drones are working together in a semi-integrated model,” Bucari said. “The drone provides close-in, low-altitude detail to the team of both aviation and ground personnel. The helicopter maintains a wide-area overwatch, tracking movement, coordinating ground units, and managing the bigger picture.”
Sometimes this teaming can be used in unexpected ways to deliver substantial results. A case in point: “In Torrance, California, we saw an instance where a search for a suspect of a home invasion was tracked by both a helicopter and a drone,” said Smith. “The helicopter was used to distract the suspect, who was moving from one backyard to another. At the same time, the drone was able to track the suspect until they were in a position of vulnerability, at which point they peacefully surrendered.”
For more conventional teaming arrangements during disasters, Baker said, “We have seen drones used to quickly locate trapped individuals, allowing helicopters to rescue them with their hoist systems. This was done during the flooding events in Texas in July 2025, where drones located victims and guided helicopters or rescuers to save them.”
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