The large helicopter that may be Erickson’s most well known Air-Crane, the one named Elvis, is being gutted down to the studs, so to speak. The company plans to rebuild N179AC as an S-64F+ that could operate without a pilot in the cockpit or autonomously.

The project, first announced at the Anaheim HAI convention in January, 2020, started as a way to work toward a new “pilot optional nighttime firefighting solution”, integrating Sikorsky’s MATRIX™ Technology into a digitally enabled fire management system never-before used in night firefighting. Erickson said it would enhance cockpit awareness and flight crew safety during day and night operations.

Sikorsky’s description of MATRIX:

Systems intelligence that will give operators the confidence to fly their large rotorcraft safely, reliably and affordably as autonomous or optionally piloted aircraft.

Air Cranes, which are sometimes referred to as helitankers, can carry up to 2,650 gallons of water.

According to a report in Vertical, the scope of the concept has broadened recently to include autonomous delivery of cargo for the military, not at the front lines, but in the rear. It could, for example, transport weapons and vehicles from an offshore ship past a closed or destroyed port to a point where they are needed by troops.

The reconstruction of Elvis will include converting it to a fly-by-wire system. When complete it will also have the other features that Erickson is building into their new line of S-64F+ helicopters, composite main rotor blades, an enhanced cockpit and flight control system, an improved water cannon, and what the company calls a modern engine enhancing range and fuel efficiency.

Erickson expects to begin ground tests of the reborn Elvis in 2022 with a first flight by the end of 2023.

Two K-MAX helicopters were converted for the military by Lockheed Martin Corporation and Kaman Aerospace Corporation into an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) capable of autonomous or remote controlled cargo delivery. Its mission: battlefield cargo resupply for the U.S. military. The two ships flew more than 1,000 missions in Afghanistan and hauled more than 3 million pounds of cargo that would have otherwise been transported by trucks which are vulnerable to roadside bomb attacks. One goal was to save lives by reducing Marines’ exposure to improvised explosive devices on cargo convoys.

The helicopters were sent to Afghanistan in November, 2011 for an initial, limited deployment, but were extended several times.

In 2015 a pilot-optional K-MAX demonstrated dropping water and transporting cargo near Boise, Idaho.