Robinson Unmanned

Robinson Unmanned is the uncrewed-aircraft business unit of Robinson Helicopter Company, established on 10 March 2026 with operations based at 200 Ballardvale, Wilmington, Massachusetts. Robinson Helicopter Company itself was founded in 1973 by Frank D. Robinson and is headquartered in Torrance, California, where it has built the piston-engine R22 and R44 and the turbine-engine R66 light helicopters. Robinson Unmanned combines Robinson's acquisition of Ascent AeroSystems, a maker of small tactical drones, with larger autonomous platforms built on Robinson's own certified helicopter airframes.

Rather than developing clean-sheet unmanned aircraft, Robinson Unmanned converts production Robinson helicopters for remotely piloted operation in partnership with Rotor Technologies, whose RPX flight-control system replaces manual cockpit controls with a fly-by-wire, sensor-fed remote-piloting architecture. The unit's product line includes the R44 AIRTRUCK heavy-lift cargo conversion, the R44 SPRAYHAWK agricultural-spray platform, and the R66 TURBINETRUCK, alongside smaller UAS inherited from Ascent AeroSystems.

Robinson president and CEO David Smith has framed the strategy as building crewed and uncrewed variants from "the same airframe, the same parts, and the same people," letting existing Robinson dealers, service centers and supply chains support both piloted and remotely piloted aircraft. Robinson Unmanned's helicopter conversions, including the R44 AIRTRUCK, currently fly under the FAA Experimental category in the United States and hold commercial operating approvals in Brazil and other countries.