Northrop Grumman’s MQ-8C Fire Scout prepares for shipboard testing

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) successfully completed precision sloped landing tests August 27 with the MQ-8C Fire Scout at Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, in preparation for at-sea testing. MQ-8C Fire Scout has been undergoing rigorous flight testing and validation, which will culminate in the actual take-off and landing on the deck of a Navy vessel at-sea. The MQ-8C is the company’s latest variant of its successful Fire Scout unmanned aerial system, which performs intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions for the US Navy.

“The sloped take-off and landing tests are designed to be as real as it gets to actually operating on a Navy ship,” said Captain Patrick Smith, Fire Scout Program Manager at Naval Air Systems Command. “The autonomous MQ-8C Fire Scout system is able to precisely track and understand the roll and pitch of the surface which resembles at-sea conditions.”