Northrop-Grumman MQ-8A/B Fire Scout

An unmanned autonomous helicopter developed for the US Armed Forces to be used in the reconnaissance and targeting support roles. The initial version, known as RQ-8A, was based on the Schweizer 330 and was the winner of the US Navy VTOL-UAV competition. This aircraft soon proved to not be good enough for service. The US Army joined the program in 2006 and a new variant was introduced. Named MQ-8B, is based on the Schweizer 333 with a 4-blades main rotor and Raytheon avionics, has greater payload and better overall performance. Fire Scout systems were used in the development of the Bell/Northrop-Grumman Fire-X which led to the MQ-8C.

MQ-8A/B Fire Scout News

The Helicopters of the US Navy LCS Ships

17-Jul-20 - The US Navy uses combination of MH-60S Seahawk helicopter and MQ-8B Fire Scout drones aboard the littoral combat ship (LCS) vessels. The MH-60S provides logistics, SAR and anti-surface warfare capabilities while the MQ-8B increases situational awareness and targeting support #LCS

HSC-22 Prepared Deployment at MARS UAS

19-Mar-20 - US Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron HSC-22 flew their MQ-8B Fire Scout drones and MH-60S Seahawks at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) runway in Wallops Island, Virginia as part of pre-deployment training #spaceport