MQ-8B exceeds 8,000 hour milestone aboard USS Bradley
Source: U.S. Navy, 13-Mar-13
After exceeding the 8,000-flight-hour mark Friday, an MQ-8B Fire Scout assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 22 Detachment 5 prepares to land aboard USS Robert G. Bradley for a “hot pump” and re-launch while conducting maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations in the Mediterranean Sea March 11. Fire Scouts aboard Bradley are routinely flying 17-hour days [...]
Northrop Grumman, Navy select Telephonics radar for Fire Scout
Source: Northrop Grumman, 09-Jan-13
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC), under contract to the U.S. Navy, has selected Telephonics Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF), Long Island, N.Y., to provide a multimode maritime radar system for the Navy’s MQ-8B Fire Scout vertical takeoff and landing tactical unmanned aerial vehicle. A $33 million contract was awarded to provide the [...]
Northrop Grumman awarded $24M delivery order for MQ-8B parts
Source: US DoD, 07-Oct-12
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $24,476,978 firm-fixed-price delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-10-G-0003) for spare parts and supplies in support of the MQ-8B vertical take-off and landing tactical unmanned air vehicle. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif. (36 percent), Horseheads, N.Y. (30 percent); [...]
Northrop Grumman awarded $28M MQ-8B Fire Scout support contract
Source: US DoD, 28-Sep-12
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $28,126,043 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for software sustainment, non-recurring engineering support and obsolescence efforts including future growth software development for the vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle Fire Scout MQ-8B. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif. (90 percent), and Patuxent River Naval Air [...]
Northrop Grumman awarded $25M contract for three Fire Scouts
Source: US DoD, 09-May-12
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Integrated Systems Sector, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $25,709,758 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-07-C-0041) to purchase three Fire Scout vertical takeoff and landing tactical unmanned aerial vehicles Lot 5 low rate initial production and one ground control station. Work will be performed in Moss Point, Miss. [...]
US Navy grounds MQ-8B Fire Scout after two crashes
Source: US Navy, 11-Apr-12
The Navy recently experienced two unrelated operational mishaps with the MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter. There were no injuries to personnel and no damage to other aircraft. On March 30, an MQ-8B Fire Scout operating off USS Simpson (FFG-56) was ditched at sea upon returning from a maritime surveillance mission in support of Africa Partnership [...]
06-Apr-12 MQ-8B northern Afghanistan
06-Apr-12
MQ-8B operating in northern Afghanistan crashed while conducting a routine surveillance mission in support of Regional Command North.
30-Mar-12 MQ-8B Fire Scout off USS SImpson
30-Mar-12
MQ-8B Fire Scout operating off USS Simpson (FFG-56) was ditched at sea upon returning from a maritime surveillance mission in support of Africa Partnership Station. The air vehicle was unable to achieve UAS Common Automated Recovery System (UCARS) lock on, a requirement for landing aboard a ship at sea. After multiple approaches and exhaustive troubleshooting [...]
GE Aviation wins position on Northrop Grumman Fire Scout program
Source: GE Aviation, 16-Mar-12
GE Aviation has been awarded a contract by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) to provide a stores management system for the MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter. The contract includes the installation, engineering, manufacturing and data development of GE’s Stores and Payload Controller (SPC) used to control Fire Scout’s new weapons system. “The stores and payload controller [...]
USS Simpson and Fire Scout set sail for Africa
Source: US Navy, 20-Jan-12
The MQ-8B Fire Scout, the Navy’s only unmanned aircraft to operate on land and at sea departed Jan.17 from Mayport, Fla., aboard USS Simpson (FFG 56) for a six-month deployment to western Africa. Personnel from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 60 Detachment 4 and Northrop Grumman took Fire Scout on its third at-sea deployment aboard [...]
Reservist reflects on Fire Scout deployment in Afghanistan
Source: US Navy, 07-Dec-11
Just in time for the holidays, a member from Fire Scout Detachment Alpha returned here after an eight-month deployment in Afghanistan. Lt. Cmdr. Tom Williams, Alpha detachment’s assistant officer in charge, returned to Pax River mid-November after supporting Fire Scout’s first land-based deployment. Williams is not a returning individual augmentee, rather he is a Navy [...]
US Navy extends Afghan tour of duty for Fire Scout
Source: Northrop Grumman, 09-Nov-11
Northrop Grumman Corporation’s (NYSE:NOC) Fire Scout unmanned helicopter has improved ground commanders’ ability to see potential threats and increase fighting effectiveness in Afghanistan – prompting the U.S. Navy to extend the system’s service through most of next year. A team of U.S. Navy sailors and Northrop Grumman employees began their mission in May to gather [...]
US Navy to arm MQ-8B Fire Scout
Source: Northrop Grumman, 09-Nov-11
Northrop Grumman Corporation has started work outfitting the U.S. Navy’s MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter with a weapons system. The Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System laser-guided 70mm rocket — in production for the Navy since 2010 — will allow ship commanders to identify and engage hostile targets without calling in other aircraft for support. “By [...]
US Navy adds classified payload to MQ-8B Fire Scout
Source: Flightglobal, 04-Nov-11
Northrop was recently awarded a $1 million contract to integrate a payload called Twister on the MQ-8B – but the notice did not identify what specific function the Twister payload performs. (see full story)
Northrop Grumman awarded $18M for MQ-8B support
Source: US DoD, 04-Oct-11
Northrop Grumman Corp., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded an $18,650,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance services in support of the deployment of the MQ-8B vertical takeoff and landing tactical unmanned aerial vehicle. Work will be performed in Afghanistan (90 percent) and Patuxent River, Maryland (10 percent), and is expected to be completed [...]
MQ-8B Fire Scout flies on biofuel
Source: US Navy, 03-Oct-11
The Navy reached a milestone in its quest to gain energy independence today, when an MQ-8B Fire Scout successfully flew the first unmanned biofueled flight at Webster Field in St. Inigoes, Md. The Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Directorate piloted the helicopter fueled with a combination of JP-5 aviation fuel and plant-based camelina. The biofuel blend [...]
Northrop Grumman awarded $7.5M for MQ-8B updates
Source: US DoD, 30-Sep-11
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Aerospace Systems Unmanned Systems, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $7,550,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-10-G-0003) for software sustainment services in support of the MQ-8B vertical take-off and landing tactical unmanned air vehicle. Services to be provided include analysis of engineering change proposals; development [...]
Northrop Grumman awarded $17M for Fire Scout weapon program
Source: US DoD, 23-Sep-11
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $17,098,027 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Rapid Deployment Capability Weaponization Program in support of the Vertical Takeoff and Landing Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle MQ-8B Fire Scout System. This contract includes the installation, engineering, manufacturing, and data development of the weapons systems, which include 12 Stores [...]
Northrop Grumman awarded $10M contract for MQ-8B support
Source: US DoD, 02-Sep-11
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $10,474,708 cost plus fixed fee contract for logistics in support of the Vertical Takeoff and Landing Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) MQ-8B Fire Scout system. Logistic support services includes: logistics management, maintenance support, supply support, air vehicle transportation, training services, logistics management information, technical [...]
Northrop Grumman Fire Scout completes successful at-sea deployment
Source: Northrop Grumman, 21-Aug-11
The Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)-built MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Takeoff Unmanned Aerial Vehicle was credited with providing critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) support to special operations forces and U.S. Navy anti-piracy actions during the system’s second at-sea deployment. Two Fire Scout air vehicles were deployed aboard the USS Halyburton (FFG 40) at the beginning of [...]
Hitting space bar at wrong time can self-destruct a Fire Scout
Source: Southern Maryland News, 19-Jul-11
A report compiled by Michael Gilmore, director of the Pentagon’s Operational Test and Evaluation office for Navy and members of Congress, states that the MQ-8B Fire Scout’s data link to its ground operators is so fragile that it frequently causes delayed and scratched flights. Other information includes the fact that just a tap of the [...]
21-Jun-11 Lockheed MQ-8 Libya
21-Jun-11
The UAV was delivering intelligence data from about 5,000-7,000 ft. as expected, and there was no immediate sign of a command and control problem or mechanical malfunction, a program source says. This may mean it was shot down.
Fire Scout supports operations in Afghanistan
Source: US Navy, 17-Jun-11
The Navy’s Fire Scout is proving its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability during its first land-based deployment in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. The Fire Scout, managed by Navy and Marine Corps Multi-Mission Tactical Unmanned Air Systems program office (PMA-266), deployed in late April to CENTCOM in response to a DoD ISR [...]
Northrop Grumman to show MQ-8B Fire Scout at Paris Air Show
Source: Northrop Grumman, 03-Jun-11
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) will highlight its industry-leading global security capabilities at the Paris International Air Show, including unmanned aircraft systems, defence electronics and performance-based logistics. The 49th Paris International Air Show will take place at Le Bourget, Paris, from 20-26 June 2011. Northrop Grumman will participate in a series of media briefings during the [...]
Fire Scout prepares for CENTCOM deployment
Source: US Navy, 21-Apr-11
The Navy’s Fire Scout Unmanned Air Vehicle system is about to begin its first land-based deployment to U.S. Central Command this month. The Fire Scout effort is led by the Navy and Marine Corps Multi-Mission Tactical Unmanned Air System program office, PMA-266, at Patuxent River, Md. In response to an urgent needs requirement from DoD’s [...]
Northrop Grumman Fire Scout hits new single-day endurance record
Source: Northrop Grumman, 15-Apr-11
The Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)-built MQ-8B Fire Scout vertical takeoff and landing tactical unmanned aerial vehicle marked a new single-day flight record of 18 hours. U.S. Navy operators achieved the record using a single aircraft in a series of endurance flights Feb. 25 from the USS Halyburton (FFG 40). Fire Scout is providing intelligence, surveillance and [...]
MQ-8B Fire Scout completes first unmanned test flights on Littoral Combat Ship
Source: Northrop Grumman, 24-Feb-11
The Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) -built MQ-8B Fire Scout vertical takeoff and landing tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (VTUAV) achieved a significant development milestone in November when it flew its first test flights from the U.S. Navy’s littoral combat ship, USS Freedom (LCS-1). The Navy conducted the activity, known as dynamic interface (DI) testing, off the coast [...]
Northrop Grumman and US Navy prove Fire Scout ready for unrestricted flights
Source: Northrop Grumman, 15-Dec-10
In preparation for deployment early next year, Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and the U.S. Navy have verified that the MQ-8B Fire Scout vertical unmanned aircraft system is functionally compatible with communications systems on board the USS Halyburton (FFG-40). This process, known as integration verification, cleared the way for Fire Scout to conduct bluewater – unrestricted [...]
Unmanned MQ-8B Fire Scout passes 1,000 flight hours milestone
Source: Northrop Grumman, 28-Oct-10
The Northrop Grumman Corporation-built (NYSE:NOC) MQ-8B Fire Scout vertical unmanned aerial system (VUAS) has passed the 1,000 flight test hours milestone, attesting to its steady maturation as a key intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance asset for military forces. Northrop Grumman is the Navy’s Fire Scout prime contractor. To reach this milestone, the VUAS completed a number [...]
Fire Scout completes hot and high testing
Source: Northrop Grumman, 20-Jul-10
With the support of the United States Navy, Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and its industry partners (Sikorsky/Schweizer, Rolls-Royce, Raytheon, FLIR Systems, Cubic, Kearfott, Rockwell-Collins, General Electric, Sierra Nevada, Telephonics, and L-3 Communications) today successfully completed a rigorous set of flight demonstrations of the MQ-8B Fire Scout vertical unmanned aerial system (VUAS) in the United Arab [...]
