Fire Scout Completes First Autonomous Ship Landings

Released on Wednesday, January 18, 2006

The U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman Corporation wrote a new chapter in naval aviation history January 16-17, when two RQ-8A Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) completed nine autonomous shipboard landings on board USS Nashville (LPD 13) off the coast of Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.

This test marks the first time a Navy UAV has performed vertical landings on a moving ship without a pilot controlling the aircraft. The RQ-8A is a test version of the newer MQ-8B Fire Scout being developed by Northrop Grumman for the Navy and the U.S. Army. The MQ-8B Fire Scout is the aircraft element of a complete system called the Vertical takeoff and landing Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) system.

After it was launched from the naval air station, the Fire Scout flew to the designated test area, where the USS Nashville was waiting for the air vehicle to land and take off under its own control. The flight was monitored from a ship-based control station called a tactical control system, and the air vehicle was guided onto the ship using an unmanned air vehicle common automatic recovery system.

The Navy plans to use Fire Scout on board the Littoral Combat Ship, where sailors will operate both manned and unmanned helicopters to support operational requirements. Northrop-Grumman's Integrated Systems sector is developing and producing 12 MQ-8B Fire Scout UAVs; four for the Navy and eight for the Army.

Fire Scout will provide the warfighter with real-time video imagery and provide communications-relay capability. The weapons-capable air vehicle, which can fly missions more than eight hours long, will also help warfighters assess battle damage, provide precision targeting and gather intelligence.