Drones are coming to the battlefield faster than you think. Aurora Flight Sciences recently unveiled an autonomous, LiDAR equipped helicopter called AACUS, which was already an impressive feat, considering a helicopter's complexity. Now, for the first time, it has completed an autonomous, closed-loop cargo mission, delivering gas, water and medical supplies to US Marines during an integrated training exercise in California. AACUS (Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System) is based on a Bell UH-1H helicopter, but it's able to take off, fly and land completely autonomously, thanks to LiDAR, cameras, onboard computers and advanced algorithms. The system can plan its own trajectory and even select landing sites in "unmapped and hazardous conditions," Aurora said.

Most people have heard about self-driving cars, with companies from Google to Honda developing autonomous vehicles. But driverless technology could be going beyond cars, with the testing of a self-flying helicopter. A Sikorsky S-76 commercial helicopter has now successfully taken off and flown autonomously 30 miles, before landing itself safely. The helicopter in the trial was the Sikorsky S-76 model which used Sikorsky's MATRIX system The Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft (SARA), used Sikorsky's MATRIX system. This is the same system that is use in the Optionally Piloted Black Hawk (OPBH) Demonstrator.