26-Aug-23 - An US Marine Corps HMH-361 Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter delivered fuel to an US Navy HSC-21 MQ-8C Fire Scout drone in the first time a manned aircraft has provided fuel for an unmanned rotary wing aircraft #drones
13-Aug-23 - US Navy Fleet Readiness Center Southwest (FRCSW) at San Diego, CA became the first depot to do a full paint scheme for a Northrop-Grumman/Bell MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter #painting
17-Aug-22 - The Northrop-Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout drone completes first expeditionary advanced base operations exercise and successfully demonstrated ship-to-shore transition mission flexibility across ship classes #drones
09-Jul-22 - US Navy demonstrated the mine countermeasure (MCM) prototype technology Single-system Multi-mission Airborne Mine Detection (SMAMD) on the MQ-8C Fire Scout helicopter drone at Eglin AFB #SMAMD
24-May-22 - The Bell / Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout drone helicopter is in their first deployment to the Indo-Pacific with US Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron HSC-23 aboard littoral ship USS Jackson (LCS-6) #drones
30-Apr-22 - US Navy’s newest drone helicopter, the Bell/Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout, completed operational testing and training aboard littoral combat ship USS Jackson (LCS 6) and USS Montgomery (LCS 8) #drones
16-Mar-22 - Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron VMX-1 and US Navy
Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron HSC-23 flew together AH-1Z and UH-1Y helicopters with MQ-8C drone at NAF El Centro, California #drones
16-Feb-22 - US Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron HSC-22, “Sea Knights”, Detachment 5 completed the first operational deployment of the Bell / Northrop-Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout drone helicopter aboard littoral combat ship USS Milwaukee (LCS 5) in the Caribbean Sea
14-Feb-22 - Teledyne FLIR Defense awarded $43.9M indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract to service electro-optical sensor systems used for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) by US Navy, Marines and Coast Guard #ISR
26-Jan-22 - The Northrop Grumman/Bell MQ-8C Fire Scout VTOL UAV deployed with Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 22 “Sea Knights” Detachment 5 (HSC-22 Det 5) aboard USS Milwaukee (LCS-5, Freedom-class littoral combat ship) marking the transition from the MQ-8B #drones
30-May-21 - Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout drone completes successful fit check aboard USS Anchorage (LPD-23) and is ready to support the US Marine Corps amphibious warfare mission #drones
29-Jan-21 - The US Navy requests an analysis of alternatives (AoA) for a Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL MS) aircraft to replace the Seahawk and Fire Scout in the 2030s #FVLMS
21-Sep-20 - US Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron HSC-22 received their first MQ-8C Fire Scout drone at Naval Station Norfolk. HSC-22 is the first East Coast squadron to operate the MH-60S Seahawk, MQ-8B Fire Scout and MQ-8C Fire Scout all together #drones
24-Sep-19 - Summit Aviation renewed contract with Northrop Grumman to continue building Faraday Cages for US Navy’s MQ-8C Fire Scout drones at the company’s plant in Somerset, Kentucky. #FireScout
10-Jul-19 - The US Navy declared the initial operational capability (IOC) for the Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout. A drone based on the Bell 407 helicopter, will deploy aboard Littoral combat ships (LCS) in 2021. 38 unmanned systems ordered #FireScout
