PAUL LEWIS / WASHINGTON DC
Northrop Grumman is planning to demonstrate at the end of this month the RQ-8A Fire Scout vertical take-off and landing unmanned air vehicle's capability to deploy with the US Marine Corps and Army. The company, meanwhile, is taking encouragement from US Navy plans to fully fund the completion of system development and demonstration during fiscal year 2003.
The company says it would be possible to deploy the development vehicles now flying and all supporting equipment in one Boeing C-17 or two Lockheed Martin C-130Js if required by either service. The move comes despite the USN's continued refusal to fund procurement beyond the three low-rate initial production machines now on order.
Fire Scout, however, is seen as a potential technology testbed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency/Army Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft. As the USN is reluctant to develop FireScout beyond the stage already committed, DARPA is looking to the army to support further development. This includes test firing the Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire missile as well as equipping the UAV with Link 16 and alternative equipment packages such as a synthetic aperture radar.
One of the two test machines recently completed the first download of real-time video imagery to a ground station using a L-3 tactical common datalink, as well as the firing of its laser designator. Test flying over the rest of this year includes night flying and laser designating targets. At the end of its development the USN plans to base all five RQ-8As at NASF all on to help train fighter pilots in unmanned operations and co-operative engagements.
Source: Flight International
