A U.S. Army National Guardsman with no previous aviation background learned to successfully maneuver Sikorsky’s optionally piloted Black Hawk helicopter in less than an hour, according to a company release.

In a training first, the Guardsman, using a handheld touchscreen tablet, controlled the Optionally Piloted Vehicle Black Hawk and planned its tasks during Exercise Northern Strike 25-2, a large, biannual multinational exercise sponsored by the National Guard Bureau that took place in Michigan this August. The exercise sees units practice a wide variety of offensive and defensive operations jointly in battle scenarios.

The Guardsman, whose name has not been released, used the OPV Black Hawk to transport a 2,900-pound water buffalo slingload entirely by remote control, according to

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