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The Northrop Grumman-built UAS platform has been put to the test in an expeditionary environment.
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Northrop Grumman has confirmed its MQ-8C Fire Scout — the US Navy’s autonomous, runway-independent helicopter system — has completed operations under the Expeditionary Advance Base Operations (EABO) concept.
After being launched from the vertical take-off and landing tactical unmanned air vehicle maintenance detachment at Naval Base Ventura County in Point Mugu, California, the platform simulated a ship-based departure.
The US Navy conducted a control system hand-off of the MQ-8C Fire Scout from Point Mugu to San Clemente Island, California.
This reportedly demonstrated the platform’s ship-to-shore transition capability in a maritime expeditionary environment.
The Fire Scout was recovered and deployed using the Navy’s Portable Mission Control Station (MCS-P), which enables platform basing in locations on land, helipad operations in an advanced forward location, and logistics support from ship flight decks.
“Fire Scout is the Navy’s only unmanned helicopter with the ability to deploy from a ship or land with ISR&T at the extended range required for future warfighting,” Captain Dennis Monagle, US Navy, said.
“The system is vital in expeditionary use for situational awareness and critical decision making.”
According to Northrop Grumman, the platform provided persistent intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting (ISR&T) capabilities.
“We are supporting MQ-8C deployments on littoral combat ships while assisting the Navy with Fire Scout mission expansion efforts to include operations from other surface ships and shore-based sites,” Lance Eischeid, director, Fire Scout program, Northrop Grumman, said.
“This EABO demonstration further proves the flexible utility of Fire Scout for expeditionary use from land and across multiple ship classes.”
MQ-8C Fire Scout leverages a Bell 407 commercial aircraft for its airframe in a bid to improve affordability by reducing life cycle costs, including initial development, supply chain and flight-hour reliability.
The system is also equipped with a Leonardo AN/ZPY-8 (Osprey) radar, enabling it to detect and automatically track contacts at long ranges and in challenging conditions.
The autonomous aircraft was designed in San Diego, California, and Fort Worth, Texas, by a joint Northrop Grumman/Bell team and manufactured in Ozark, Alabama, and Moss Point, Mississippi.
The MQ-8C achieved initial operational capability in June 2019 and is expected to begin replacing the MQ-8B variant on upcoming deployments.
