Although Airbus' passenger-carrying autonomous drones may still be years away from reality, that hasn't stopped the aerospace company from getting an autonomous helicopter off the ground.
A demonstrator version of the VSR 700 Optionally Piloted Vehicle (OPV) has recently made its first self-piloted test flights, with the first flight of the fully decked-out prototype set to take place next year.
In the flights that have taken place so far, the helicopter has successfully taken off/landed, hovered, and performed stabilized flight and maneuvers. A human "safety pilot" was in the cockpit in case the multi-channel automatic flight control system malfunctioned.

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